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LIBRARY OF CONGRESS. 



Chap..Q.K.4%right No*. 
ShelflBJI. 



LITTLE LESSONS 



>lant Life 

. . FOR . . 

Little Children 



H. H. RICHARDSON 



Richmond, Va.: 

B. F. Johnson Publishing Co, 
1897 



COPYRIGHT, 1897. 



PREFACE. 



" The object in teaching plants in the lower 
grades, is not only to give some knowledge of 
botany, but to train the power of observation, to 
stimulate thought, and to exercise children in a 
fluent and correct use of language. " 

Taking as a guide the above remark of a lead- 
ing educator, I have prepared these Little Les- 
sons, many of which I have tested in my own 
school room. In many instances I have given 
the very language of the children. I have often 
felt the difficulty of opening wisely the Book of 
Nature to the eager little minds that daily come 
to me for leading ; and I doubt not that many 
primary teachers have had the same experience. 
To such I offer this book, and shall feel amply 
repaid for the trouble of preparation, if it prove 
in any sense helpful. 

In its preparation, I have consulted Gray's 
" How Plants Grow," and " How Plants Behave ;■" 
Kellerman's " Elements of Botany ;" Youman's 
" First Book of Botany ;" " With the Wild Flow- 
ers," by E. M. Hardinge ; " Child's Book of Na- 
ture " (Plants), by Dr. Hooker ; " Stories from 
Flowerland," by M. L. Pratt; "Simple Lessons 

(3) 



4 PREFACE. 

in the Study of Nature," by Isabella G. Oakley ; 
u Sea-side and Way-side," by Julia McNair 
Wright, and other authorities, besides many 
periodicals. 

I am also largely indebted to Superintendent • 
W. F. Fox and to Professor Leroy S. Edwards, 
of the Richmond Public Schools, not only for 
encouragement and help, but also for many valu- 
able suggestions. 

Teachers will see that I have endeavored to 
correlate with plant study lessons in language, 
drawing, writing and spelling. I have sought 
to do this in a way that would not burden the 
young mind. 

In Lesson VI. I have pointed out a method of 
teaching spelling which is intended to be only 
suggestive. Each teacher will succeed best with 
her own method. 

I have frequently introduced the story, as lan- 
guage work, because in my own teaching I have 
found it very helpful. Children listen atten- 
tively to that which interests them ; and a story 
read to them trains their power of attention, 
while reproducing it orally, gives practice in the 
correct use of language. 

H. H. Richardson. 

Richmond, Va. 



CONTENTS. 



Lesson 
Lesson 
Lesson 
Lesson 
Lesson 
Lesson 
Lesson 
Lesson 
Lesson 
Lesson- 
Lesson 
Lesson 
Lesson 
Lesson 
Lesson 
Lesson 
Lesson 



I - 7 

II— Seeds 9 



III 

IV 

V 

VI 

VII- 



12 

15 



-Spelling 23 

VIII — Review ... 24 

IX — Language Work 25 

X— Roots 27 



3° 
33 
36 
39 
41 
44 



XI 

XII 

XIII 

XIV ... 

XV . 

XVI— Stems 

XVII 46 

Lesson XVIII 49 

Lesson XIX 51 

LESSON XX— Spelling and Review ..,,. = .. 55 

Lesson XXI— Leaf Buds 57 

Lesson XXII ... 61 

Lesson XXIII— Language Work 65 

Lesson XXIV ,67 

Lesson XXV— Spelling and Review . . 70 

(5) 



6 CONTENTS. 

PAGE. 

LKSSON XXVI -Leaves 71 

Lesson XXVII . 74 

Lesson XXVIII 76 

Lesson XXIX 79 

Lesson XXX 82 

Lesson XXXI 85 

LESSON XXXII— Language Work .... . . 88 

LESSON XXXIII- Spelling and Review 89 

Lesson XXXIV— Flowers , 91 

Lesson XXXV 95 

Lesson XXXVI 99 

Lesson XXXVII 101 

LESSON XXXVIII— Language Work 105 

LESSON XXXIX— Spelling and Review 107 

Lesson XL — Formation of Seed ... ... 108 

Lesson XLI 112 

LESSON XLII — Spelling and Review 113 



LITTLE LESSONS IN PLANT LIFE- 



LESSON I. 



Preparation. — Two or three plants. Just before be- 
ginning the lesson the teacher will place the plants before 
the class. 

Children, I have something pleasant to tell you. 

We are going to begin to-day a most delightful 
study. I know you will enjoy it and I want you to 
help me to teach it. You can do this by giving 
good attention when I am talking. 

What are these I have placed on my desk? 
"Flowers." Yes, some of them are. Is this bean 
plant a flower? "No." If it is not a flower, 
what is it? Can we call it a plant? "Yes." 
What is this geranium? * 'A flower. " Is it not a 
plant also? "Yes; it certainly is." 

Look at those trees out in the yard. Are they 
flowers? "No." Willie, are they plants? "I 
don't know." Yes, they are plants, too. 

We are going to study about plants, so let us try 
to find out what a plant is. 

Are these plants living or dead things? "They 
are living things. ' ' Did you ever see a dead plant ? 
"Yes." Could it grow? "No; only things that 
are alive can grow." These plants grow, so they 
must be alive. 

(7) 



8 UTTLE LKSSONS IN PI^ANT I«IFK. 

A plant, we see, then, is a living thing. 

Perhaps you will be surprised when I say that 
plants not only live and grow, but they breathe and 
eat, and do many other w r onderful things, which I 
shall tell you about. 

When I talk about plants I mean all trees, and 
flowers, and grasses, and everything that grows in 
the ground from a seed. 

I do not mean to say, however, that all plants 
grow in the ground. 

Some grow in the air, and some in the water, and 
some elsewhere. I will tell you more about that 
hereafter. Let us see, now, if we can tell what a 
plant is. 

A plant is a living thing that usually grows in the 
grotmd from a seed. 

You may repeat that after me. A perfect plant 
is made up of ; 

^^fa&td, (&/e'Wvd, j^eta-ved, C^U^^ue^ld^ 

I have written these words on the board. Let us 
spell them. It is about these different parts of the 
plant that we are going to study. 

The life of a plant begins and ends in a seed. 
So we will begin our study in plant life with lessons 
on seeds. 



LESSON II. 
SEEDS. 

Note to Teacher. — Read the selection at the head of 
the lesson to the class. Let the children repeat it after 
the teacher. Awaken curiosity, arouse interest, and then 
present the seed. 

In the following lesson, we will suppose that beans, corn, 
watermelon and morning-glory seeds have been provided, 
as well as some hickory nuts and peanuts, and distributed 
among the children. 

In the heart of a seed, 

Buried deep, so deep, 
A dear little plant 

Lay fast asleep. 
tl Wake," said the sunshine, 

"And creep to the light." 
"Wake," said the voice 

Of the raindrop bright. 
The little plant heard, 

And it rose to see 
What the wonderful 

Outside world might be. 



-Selected. 



What is buried in the seed? 
Is it asleep, or awake? 
What calls it to wake? 
Does it hear the call ? 
What does it do? 

(9) 



IO LITTLE LESSONS IN PLANT LIFE. 

Who will tell, in his own language, what that 
little poem said? 

Can any one repeat it ? 

Are these seeds all alike? Tell how they differ. 
John, come here, and pick out a seed and tell what 
kind of seed it is. 

What kind of seed is this I am showing? What 
is its shape? Susie, show a flat seed, and tell what 
kind of seed it is. What is the shape of this bean? 
"It is round.' ' Is it round like a ball? "No, it 
is round like a bag or box. ' ' Yes, seeds are some- 
times spoken of as "treasure-boxes," because they 
hold something valuable. 

We find that they differ in shape. Are they 
alike in other respects? "They are not alike in 
color." Florence, will you pick out a white seed? 
Willie may show a black one; Norman, a brown 
one, and Lottie, a yellow one. Are the seeds alike 
in size? "They are not." Then there is another 
point of difference you have found. 

Which is the largest seed in this collection? 
Which the smallest? Can you find any other dif- 
ference? "Some are harder than others." Break 
the peanut shell; now see if you can break, in the 
same w 7 ay, that of the hickory-nut. It is true that 
some have much harder and stronger "seed-cradles" 
than others. 

There is something wonderful and beautiful 
buried in every seed. Do you wonder w T hat it is? 



LITTLE LESSONS IN PLANT LIF£. II 

Would you like to have it brought out that you 
may see it? It is a baby-plant, put into the little 
cradle by Mother Nature, and shut up so snugly 
that it will be kept warm and dry until it hears the 
4 ' voice of the sunshine and rain," calling it to come 
up to the light. 

Allen, how many points of difference have we 
noticed in these seeds? Mention them. "Shape, 
color, size, and hardness of their seed-cases. ' ' 

If I want watermelons, shall I plant morning- 
glory seed? "No, indeed; you must plant water- 
melon seed. " You are right. I shall get the kind 
I planted. 

The seeds are different because they hold differ- 
ent kinds of baby-plants, and Mother Nature gives 
to each baby -plant the kind of covering and protec- 
tion it needs. 



LESSON III. 

( Written on Board. ) 
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— School Journal. 

The class will read silently the lines I have writ- 
ten on the board. Florence may read them aloud 
now. Floyd, what is meant by planting hate? "It 
is to be so mean that people will hate you. ' ' Charlie, 
is it wise to plant hate? What should we plant in 
the hearts of people instead of hate? ' 'We should 
plant love." How can you plant love? "By lov- 
ing others." I think so; as we said about the seed, 
we will surely get what we plant, and if we desire 
the love of others w 7 e must be careful to plant love 
in their hearts. 

(12) 



LITTLE LESSONS IN PLANT LIFE. 13. 

Do you know that here in the schoolroom you are 
every day planting seed, the fruit of which you will 
gather when you are men and women ? Idleness in the 
schoolroom will yield the fruit of ignorance in after 
life. So let us beware of planting the seed of idle- 
ness. Let us do the best we can every day. 

Look at this seed I am holding. In it, as you 
have heard, is a baby-plant; let us call it a plantlet, 
because it is so ver} 7 small. I should have to get a 
magnifying-glass to show it to you. You could not 
see it with your naked eye. 

We want this plantlet to grow. What shall we 
do to wake it from its slumber and make it grow? 
Give it what it needs and then it will grow. Would 
you grow if you were shut up in a cold, dark room 
all the time, without food? "No." Neither will 
this plantlet grow until it is given the right condi- 
tions for growth ; that is, plant it in soil, keep it 
warm, and give it light, air, and moisture. 

I have written these words on the board that you 
may remember what the plantlet needs to make it 
grow. Copy them. I have prepared some boxes 
of rich earth which I will place in the window here, 
and to-morrow you may bring some seeds and plant 
them in the boxes. 

I will sprinkle some flax seed on the wet sponge 



14 UTTLK LESSONS IN PLANT IJKK. 

that I have put in this glass, which, you see, is partly 
filled with water. 

Here on the top of the water in this little bowl I 
will put a layer of cotton, and on that I will lay a 
number of beans and cover them with another layer 
of cotton. 

I wish you to observe them day by day, that you 
may see the changes that take place in seeds when 
they begin to sprout and grow. Suppose we say 
germinate instead of sprout. A word cannot be too 
big for little folks to use if they know its meaning. 

Please get blank books to use in our Plant lessons. 
I want you to keep a list of all the hard words. 



LESSON IV. 

Note. — Allow the children to come forward and, under 
the teacher's direction, plant seed in the boxes. They 
will take more interest in the seed which they themselves 
have planted. 

MEMORY GEM. 

In my little garden bed, 

Raked so nicely over, 
First the tiny seeds I sow. 

Then with soft earth cover. 

Shining dowm, the great round sun 

Smiles upon it often; 
Little rain drops pattering down, 

Help the seed to soften. 

Then the little plant awakes ! 

Down the roots go creeping, 
Up it lifts its little head 

Through the brown mold peeping. 

High and higher still it grows 

Through the summer hours, 
Till some happy day the buds 

Open into flowers. 

— From Poulsson's Finger Plays. 

What season is this? "Spring." Mention the 
spring months. Who can tell the day of the month ? 
John says it is the eighteenth. Grace ma}' tell the 
name of this month. "March. " Yes, it is March. 

(i5) 



1 6 LITTLE LESSONS IN PLANT LIFE. 

Lottie may go to the calendar and point out the 
eighteenth of March. I will write that date on the 
boxes, and we will see how long it takes the plantlet 
to break out from the seed-cradle and come up. 

So carefully does Mother Nature wrap the little 
plantlets up in the dry seeds, that they have been 
known to sleep in them for many years, and then 
grow when planted. Professor Gray tells us that 
plants have been raised from seed sixty years old. 
I will tell you something I have read, more remark- 
able than that. 

Eighteen hundred years ago the city of Pompeii 
was buried under ashes by the eruption of a volcano. 
About one hundred years ago, the ashes were dug 
away so that people could go into the city, and walk 
about the streets and go into the houses. 

Among other things, some seeds were found there 
which were planted, and grew. Think of that. 
The little plantlets sleeping in the seeds for eighteen 
hundred years ! 

Quite hard to believe, isn't it? It is best to say 
that the time a plantlet will live in the seed is not 
known. 



LESSON V. 
Preparation. — An ear of corn. 

MEMORY GEM. 

What do you do in the ground, little seed, 

Under the rain and snow, 
Hidden away from the bright blue sky 
And lost to the little sparrow's eye? 
"Why, don't you know? 
I grow. ' ' 

— Selected. 

Growing is not all the little plant does. There 
is more work for it to do. It is a busy little thing, 
doing its work quietly, and oh, what beautiful 
work it is ! 

Little children may learn from the plantlet to 
work quietly when they want to work well. 

When your mother plants flower seeds in the 
spring, after they grow a while w r hat do they do? 
"Bloom." Yes; and are they not beautiful when 
they are blooming? 

Later on in the summer they will form seed, 
which being planted next year will grow and make 
plants of their own. 

So the plant has three things to do. What did 
we say was the first? the second? the third? 

To grow, to bloom, and to make seed is then the life 
work of a plant. 

2 (l 7 ) 



1 8 LITTLE LESSONS IN PLANT LIFE. 

I have here an ear of corn. From what did it 
grow? From just one kernel or seed. Sometimes 
the seeds from one plant are enough to plant 
quite a large piece of ground. 

You see, then, that a great many seeds will come 
from one seed. 

Do we plant all the seeds? Can you think of any 
other use w 7 e make of them? ' ' We eat some of 
them." Yes; men, animals, and birds live largely 
on the seeds of plants. 

You may mention some seeds we eat. (Corn, 
wheat, beans, rice, oats, walnuts, almonds, pea- 
nuts.) Yes; and there are many others that you 
have not mentioned, but you begin to see, I hope, 
w T hat the plants are doing for us. 

How are the seeds planted? Jane may tell me. 
' ' Men plant them. " Yes; but there are also many 
other ways by which they are scattered abroad. It 
is not often best for them to be planted where they 
grew, and so Mother Nature has many wise w T ays to 
distribute them. The wind scatters them and they 
are trodden under foot and thus planted. Some 
seeds have little sails, or tufts, that cause them to 
fly before the wind and travel thus a long w 7 ay. 
The seeds of some plants are scattered by the burst- 
ing of the pod. Did you ever touch one of the 
pods of the Touch-me-not plant after the seeds 
were ripe? Sometimes seeds stick to the clothes of 
men and the fur of animals, and are carried by 



LITTLE LESSONS IN PLANT LIFE. 1 9 

these means from one place to another and dropped 
about. 

The birds and squirrels often carry them from 
place to place. 

Many of the seed-coats, or shells, are so hard and 
firm that they can float on the water a long distance 
and then, when washed ashore, sink into the ground 
and spring up and grow. 

You must not think that all the seeds grow that 
are scattered abroad by these various means. Oh 
no, or we should have too many plants and trees. 
Very many of them perish from different causes. 

What season is it when seeds are planted? 

What season is this? 

What are the farmers doing now? 

Where are the birds? 

Who can mention the spring months ? 



LESSON VI. 

Note. — Just before the lesson, pull up and distribute 
among the children some of the beans that have been 
planted for several days and are sprouting. Also distribute 
dry beans. 

What day of the month is this? " The twenty- 
seventh of March. ' ' When did we plant the beans? 
' ' The eighteenth. ' ' Harry may tell how many days 
they have been planted. 

So it took nine days and nights for them to burst 
their seed-coats and begin to grow. Some kinds of 
seed would sprout sooner than nine days, some might 
take longer. The time differs with different seed. 

Please compare the bean that has been planted 
with the dry one. What difference do you see? 
"The one that has been planted is larger and 
softer. ' ' What do you notice about the skin ? ' 'It 
can be slipped off easily. ' ' 

As far as we can see, the first thing the plantlet 
did when it began to grow was to swell out so that 
it burst open the seed-cradle in which Mother 
Nature had kept it shut up. What caused it to 
swell? "The water. " Right. Look carefully at 
the bean that has been planted. You see two lobes, 
or leaves. What is their shape ? ' ' They are round 
or oval on the outer side and flat on the inner." 
See if you can fold the leaves back. "Yes." Now 

(20) 



LITTLE LESSONS IN PLANT LIFE. 21 

can you shut them together again? "Oh yes." 
It is hinged, you see. Pull it apart where it is 
hinged. Each piece is called a cotyledon or seed- 
leaf. The seeds of some kinds of plants have 
several cotyledons, other kinds have only one. The 
bean, as you have just seen, and many others, have 
two. I will write on the board : 

and you may spell the word. 

Frank may come and pick out a cotyledon from 
among the things on my desk. 

Perhaps you have wondered what the baby-plant, 
all shut up between the cotyledons, has been living 
on since it began to grow, for it could not grow 
without food. Plantlets, like babies, have to be 
fed until they are old enough to feed themselves. 
The cotyledons feed the plantlet ; the}^ contain the 
food on which it lives when it first begins to grow, 
and furnish food for it until it is able to get food 
for itself. 

You will see by watching these plants in the box 
that when they get pretty^well started the cotyledons 
will shrivel up and die. Can you guess why? 
; 'The plants ate them up." Yes; their work was 
done. The plant can now get its food elsewhere. 

I wish you now to examine the plantlet you find 
between the cotyledons. You see the little leaves 



22 LITTLE LESSONS IN PLANT LIFE. 

already formed. Notice this little white point I am 
touching with my pencil. Touch the same point in 
the bean you are holding. It is the radicle, or root. 
Which way will the root grow? "It grows down- 
ward. M The other part is the plumule, or that part 
of the plant which grows upward. Lula, will you 
take this bean and touch and call by name the rad- 
icle, cotyledons, and plumule? 

Our little plantlet has sprouted and burst out of 
the cotyledons. What do you think it will do next? 
Willie may tell us. ' ' It will grow. ' ' Is growing 
the entire life-work of a plant? "No, it will bloom 
and make seed. ' ' 

Eddie, can you mention the parts of the seed? 
"The skin, cotyledons, and baby-plant." Ella, 
mention the parts of the baby-plant. "The radicle 
and plumule. ' ' 

Draw a picture of the cotyledons and baby-plant 
of the bean. I have drawn one on the board. 



Plumule - 

-Cotyledons 
Radicle/- 




LESSON VII. 
SPELLING. 

( Written on the Board. ) 



&Z = Wlt>t'l 



z=^=^=ti&'7>v. - J &eec/=-C'l€z=€z4(e 



Cordie, come to the board and point out cotyledon. 

Spell it. 

Jake, show and spell germinate. 

Willie, plantlet. 

Mary, draw a line under radicle. 

John, draw one under plumule and spell it. 

Let us sound plumule phonetically. Willie may 
take a pointer and go to the board and Lottie may 
tell him which words to point out. 

Alice may take the pointer. The class may choose 
the words for her to point out. 

Copy these words on your slates. 



(23) 



LESSON VIII. 
REVIEW. 

What is a plantlet? By whom are the plantlets 
put into their seed-cradles? 

What does the plantlet require to call it out of its 
seed-cradle and make it grow? How long did it 
take the plantlets, in the seed we planted, to burst 
out of their seed-cradles after they had been planted ? 

What are the cotyledons? Of what use are the} r 
to the plantlet before it begins to grow? After it 
begins to grow? 

What becomes of the cotyledons after the roots 
grow down into the ground? 

What is meant by seed-cradle ? 

What word could be used instead of germinate? 

What is the radicle of the plantlet ? The plumule ? 

Are all seeds alike? 

Mention some respects in which they differ. 

What is the life-work of a plant? 

Mention some seeds that are used for food. 

Mention some of the ways by which seeds are 
planted. 

Do all seeds that are planted grow ? 

In what season do the farmers plant seed? 

Mention the parts of the seed. 



(24) 



LESSON IX. 

LANGUAGE WORK. 

Note to Teacher. — Read the story to the children. 
Talk with them about it. Let some of them reproduce it 
orally. 

A little girl one day in the month of May dropped a 
morning-glory seed into a small hole in the ground, and 
said: "Now, Morning-glory seed, hurry and grow, grow, 
grow until you are a tall vine covered with pretty green 
leaves and lovely trumpet flowers. ' ' But the earth was very 
dry, for there had been no rain for a long time, and the 
poor wee seed could not grow at all. 

So, after lying patiently in the small hole for nine long 
days and nine long nights, it said to the ground around it : 
1 ' O ground, please give me a few drops of water to soften 
my hard brown coat, so that it may burst open and set free 
my two green seed-leaves ; and then I can begin to be a 
vine!" But the ground said: "That you must ask of the 
rain. ' ' 

So the seed called to the rain : " O rain, please come 
down and wet the ground around me so that it may give 
me a few drops of water. Then will my hard brown coat 
grow softer and softer until at last it can burst open and set 
free my two green seed-leaves, and I can begin to be a vine ! ' ' 
But the rain said : " I cannot, unless the clouds hang lower. * ' 

So the seed said to the clouds: "O clouds, please hang 
lower and let the rain come down and wet the ground 
around me, so that it may give me a few drops of water. 
Then will my hard brown coat grow softer and softer until 
at last it can burst open and set free my two green seed- 

(25; 



26 LITTLE LESSONS IN PLANT LIEE. 

leaves, and I can begin to be a vine!" But the clouds 
said : ' ' The sun must hide first. ' ' 

So the seed called to the sun: "O sun, please hide for a 
little while, so that the clouds may hang lower and the 
rain come down and w T et the ground around me. Then 
will the ground give me a few drops of water and my hard 
brown coat grow softer and softer until at last it can burst 
open and set free my two green seed-leaves, and I can be- 
gin to be a vine!" "I will," said the sun, and he was 
gone in a flash. 

Then the clouds began to hang lower and lower, and the 
rain began to fall faster and faster, and the ground began 
to get wetter and wetter, and the seed -coat began to grow 
softer and softer until at last open it burst ! — and out came 
two bright green seed-leaves, and the Morning-glory seed 
began to be a vine ! — Margaret Eytinge. 



LESSON X. 



ROOTS. 

NOTE. — Draw a picture on the board of a tap-root and 
rootlets. Have present a plant pulled up with its roots 
attached. 

Plants live. 
On what do they 
live? 

Which way 
did the root start 
when the seed 
you planted be- 
gan to grow? 
Let us see if we 
can find the rea- 
son why it grew 
downward. 

Roots get food 
for the plant out 
of the ground. 
They must, 
then, go down 
for the food. They eat for the plant. You eat with 
your mouth ; so the roots are filled with very small 
mouths, or holes, by which they suck up food from 

(27) 




28 LITTLE LESSONS IN PLANT LIFE, 

the earth for the plant ; and there are so many of 
them that I can't begin to make you understand how 
man}' mouths one plant can have, and how very 
small they are. 

I have pulled up this plant that you might ex- 
amine the roots. This large root is the tap-root; it 
holds the plant firmly in the ground. Be careful 
not to break it when you are moving a plant. These 
small roots are the rootlets, or fibrils. Look at the 
picture on the board. Lula may come and touch 
the tap-root of the plant I hold, and Susie show the 
tap-root in the picture, while Jennie ma}' spell tap- 
root. In some plants the tap-roct is woody, in 
others it is thick and fleshy, and is used for food. 
When you are eating turnips, you are eating the 
tap-root of the turnip-plant. Think of some other 
tap-roots you eat, and I will write the list on the 
board as you mention them. 



Perhaps you will be interested to know that these 
roots store up food. Just as the squirrel or ant lays 
up a supply of food in summer for the coming 
winter, so these tap-roots we eat store up the food 
the first vear, on which their flowers will live the 



LITTLE LESSONS IN PLANT LIFE. 29 

second year. They never bloom the first year they 
are planted. 

The second year they bloom and make seed, after 
which the roots wither and die. 

Copy from the board the list of roots we eat, and 
draw the picture of the tap-root and rootlets. 



LESSON XI. 




Parsnip. 



Turnip. 



Fibrous Roots. 



Note. — Draw on the board a turnip and a parsnip, also 
a picture of fibrous roots. Bring a turnip and a parsnip to 
the class. 



I have here a turnip and a parsnip. John, come 
and show me the tap-root of the turnip. Lucy, 
show the rootlets, or fibrils, on this parsnip. The 
fibrils are filled with mouths, and draw 7 in nourish- 
ment for the plant. If you should break them all off 
the plant would die. It would not have mouths 
enough to feed it. In fact, in such roots as turnips 
and beets the mouths are not in the tap-root at all, 

(30) 



LITTLE LESSONS IN PLANT LIFE. 3 1 

but altogether in the fibrils, or rootlets, which, as 
you see, are joined to the large root. 

Mary may pick the fibrils off the parsnip. Frank, 
tell the difference between the rootlets and fibrils. 
"They are the same." 

In wheat, grasses, and some other plants, when 
the seed sprouts it sends out many small roots, 
instead of one large one. These roots look like 
threads, and the plant has a great many of them. 
They are called fibrous roots. 

I have made a picture on the board of fibrous 
roots. 

When you sit down to the table, do you eat 
of every dish on the table, or only such things 
as you like? "We eat what we like." Of 
course you do, and plants behave just as you do. 
They take out of the soil what they like and leave 
the rest. What some plants like, other plants do 
not like. 

I do not wish you to think that the plant gets all 
of its food from the ground. It gets a part of it 
from the air. Please remember that. 

Why do I water the plants in the window every 
morning? "To make them grow." Yes, and in 
this way. What becomes of the sugar you put in 
your tea? "It melts." We will say dissolves, 
and then you drink it in your tea. The roots can- 
not suck in hard, solid substances, so I pour water 
on the soil around the plant to dissolve the food in 



32 LITTLE LESSONS IN PLANT LIFE. 

the soil, so that the roots can drink it in as you 
drink the sugar in your tea. 

Now draw pictures of the turnip, parsnip, and 
fibrous roots. Pull up some bunches of grass this 
evening and examine the fibrous roots you find on 
them. 



LESSON XII. 

Note. — Bring an Irish potato to the class, and an onion 
with its roots. 

Some of you mentioned the potato when I asked 
you to tell me names of the roots you ate. I did 
not write it on the board. I will now tell you why. 

The potato is not a root. Everything that grows 
in the ground is not a root, and all roots do not grow 
in the ground, though it is true that most of them 
do. The potatoes you eat and enjoy so much are 
underground stems; that is, they are branches, or 
stems, of the potato plant that grow in the ground, 
and become much swollen by starch and some other 
substances. Think of them, then, as stems, not 
roots. They are sometimes called tubers. 

The leaf-buds which the potatoes have on them 
show that they are not roots. Did you ever notice 
the "eyes" on the Irish potato? I brought one to- 
day to show you. Count the "eyes' ' on this potato, 
Luther. Tell the class how many there are. 
"Six." A plant will grow T from each "eye," or 
bud. I will cut it into six parts; each part shall 
have an "eye" on it. Now I will ask Charlie, 
Binford, and Walter to come to the desk. I wish to 
divide these ' ' eyes' ' equally among them. Gilbert, 
tell me how many I shall give each boy. If the 
boys plant the eyes I have given them, how^ man}' 
3 (33) 



34 LITTLE LESSONS IN PLANT LIFE. 

potato plants will grow from one potato ? The class 
may tell me. Each eye is a kind of seed, sunk 
down in the potato. The real potato roots are 
fibrils which, you know, we have already talked 
about. 

Some time ago I put this onion in the mouth of 
this bottle filled with water. I then put it under 
my desk, where it has been until now. Tell me 
what you see in the bottle.. ''Roots." Yes, these 
are the onion roots; but the onion itself, though it 
grows under the ground, is not a root, but a stem. 
So we have found some things growing in the 
ground that are not roots, and there are others 
about which I have not told you. Such under- 
ground stems as onions, lilies, and hyacinths are 
called bulbs. The onion is, then, a bulb. The 
life sleeps in the bulbs all the winter, and starts to 
grow when the weather gets warm. Some say they 
are buds growing in the ground instead of in the 
air. 

Who will tell the color of roots ? ' ' Some are white 
and some brown, others are yellow. " Did you ever 
see any green roots? "No; but I have seen red 
ones. " Yes, they are brown, yellow, red, and white, 
but I do not think you will find any green roots. 
They are never green. 

Who will tell why the strong winds do not blow 
the trees down? "The large roots hold them firmly 
in the ground. ' ' Right. Let us sum up now the 



LITTLE LESSONS IN PLANT LIFE. 



35* 



uses of the roots. Nannie, tell me of what use they 
are to the plant. "They hold it firmly in the 
ground and eat for it." Correct. Nat, of what 
use are they to us? "We eat some of them." I 
will write on the board : 

{tfded iff cfy^vv/d. 
Yd/. Q?V A#4%/ M%e A,<£ci'w£ &c4,wi'fof tw 



2>,iz. Q^A& etzf f&'k wie A^^^z€. 



Copy that nicely in your books, and draw a pic- 
ture of an Irish potato. I will draw one on the 

board. 




LESSON XIII. 

Preparation. — A piece of ivy, with its air-roots. 

I have in the window a box with some bean-plants 
growing in it. You planted the beans. I will pull 
up one and show the roots. Look. Where did 
these roots come from? "From the plantlet that 
was in the bean." They are, then, the first roots 
that come from the seed. These are called primary 
roots. 

In this box you see a geranium-plant. I set out a 
slip, brought me by a little friend, and it grew. 
The roots to this did not come from a seed, but a 
slip, so they are called seco?tdary roots. You have 
seen one verbena plant spread over quite a large 
place, and a number of roots start out from the 
places where the stems were buried in the ground. 
These roots coming from the stems were secondary 
roots. 

The strawberry, or stray berry, as some think it 
should be called, because it strays about so much, 
puts out a great man}^ secondary roots. 

Do all plants get their food from the ground? 
"You told us to remember that they got a part of it 
from the air. " 

True, and there are some plants that get their 
food entirely from the air. Such plants have air- 
roots, but these do not get food for the plant as 

(36) 



LITTLE LESSONS IN PLANT LIFE. 37 

roots growing in the ground do. They only serve 
to hold the plant to the tree, or whatever it grows 
on ; the food comes from the air. 

I wonder if any of you have ever seen the beauti- 
ful orchid air-plant. I visited, some years ago, a 
botanical garden, and saw there a great variety of 
them. The bulbs were tied with very small wires 
to little blocks of wood and hung up to the ceiling. 
Such queer looking and beautiful blooms I never 
saw before. The plants lived entirely on the air, 
and had many air-roots. 

The vanilla, with which your mother seasons her 
custards, is made from a seed that grows in the 
pods that are produced by orchids. 

There is a gray moss that grows on trees in the 
woods in some parts of our State, and also farther 
south, that lives on the air. 

Some plants that grow in the ground have air- 
roots to help them climb. I have brought this 
piece of ivy to show you air-roots. These little 
feet, or roots, put out along the stem to hold it on 
to the wall or fence upon which it climbs. 

While most plants live in the ground, some, as I 
have just been telling you, live on air; and there 
are others that live neither in the ground nor in the 
air, but in the water. 

Sea-weed lives altogether in water. 

There is still another class of plants that derive 
their nourishment neither from the ground, nor the 



38 LITTLE LESSONS IN PLANT LIFE. 

air, nor the water. Can you guess how they do 
live? Why, they live on other plants. They just 
cling to some other plant, and send their roots down 
into it, and drink up the food which the plant had 
taken up for its own use. Not a very respectable 
way of getting a living, is it? It looks as if the 
plant were too lazy to work for itself. 

These plants are called parasites. They live by 
robbing other plants. The Dodder, or love vine, is 
a parasite. It is a bright yellow vine which grow 7 s 
on grass or bushes in the fields. The seed sprouts 
in the ground, but as soon as it begins to grow, it 
seeks for something to cling to, and when it has 
fastened itself on some other plant, the stem that 
connected it with the ground dies ; thus cut off from 
the soil, it sends its roots for food down into the 
plant on which it is climbing, and lives entirely 
upon it. 

The mistletoe, with its lovely waxy berries, is 
also a parasite, growing upon oak or hickory trees. 
How many of you have seen the mistletoe? Quite 
a number, I see. What do you wish to say, Mary ? 
"My aunt, who lives in the country, brought us a 
large bunch of it Christmas." Hereafter, when 
you see it remember that, though beautiful, it is a 
parasite. 



LESSON XIV. 

To-day we will have a spelling lesson, with some- 
thing of a review of our past lessons. 






J. 



/ /td=d&£ : v€d '. \//#€<t4 =€d/i=- j rj>ze / n 



1 have written a list of words on the board. As 
man}' of them are quite new to you, I will first go 
over them, pronouncing the words with you, after 
which the class will please pronounce each word as 
I point to it. Thank you, you did very well. Be- 
ginning at Carrie, you will, one after another, now 
spell through the list. Very well done, for little 
children with hard words. 

Who will come and point out onion, and spell it? 
Give a sentence with onion in it. 

Mary, point out and spell potato. Tell me some- 
thing about potatoes.* 

* The children show, spell and make sentences on each word in the 
list. 



(39) 



40 LITTLE LESSONS IN PLANT LIFE. 

REVIEW. 

What kind of roots are fibrous roots? 

What plants have fibrous roots? Give another 
word for dissolves. From what is vanilla made? 

What are tubers? 

Where does sea-weed grow? 

How does a parasite live? 

Mention a parasite. 

What kind of roots has the air-orehid? Of what 
use are the}'? What do you mean by primary 
roots? Secondary roots? Of what use are roots? 

What is the onion? 

Could you give another word for nourishment? 

Do all plants grow in the ground ? If not in the 
ground, where? 



LESSON XV. 

I will read the story of the Snowdrop. Listen 
attentively. I wish to see how many of you can tell 
the story after you have heard it read. 

Once upon a time there were VTN 

no flowers. The snow fell very, j^§W^^ !\ 

very fast and covered all the j^j >. ma 

earth. An angel came down ^^^\ \ kn 

upon, the earth to say a kind / //^ ; '':;V:\ \'U 

word to a sad woman. Just as I '\ ' ■;; j . ' ][■] \W 

the angel spoke, a snowflake fell l^\Jij/>?/ I 

upon her hand. ' ' See, ' ' said the 

angel, "this little snowflake | 

shall take a flower form. It 

shall bud and blossom for you. ' ' 

Then the little snowflake fell from the angel's hand; and 

as it fell it turned into a beautiful flower. The angel went 

away ; and all around where she stood there sprang up 

many beautiful snowdrops. — M. E. C.,in the American 

Teacher. 

Who is ready to tell the story of the Snowdrop ? 
I am glad to see so many of you anxious to speak. 
Janie may tell us first, in her own language, just 
what she remembers of it. Now let us hear from a 
boy.* 

You seem so much interested in the Snowdrop 
that I am going to read you a little poem about it. 

* Allow several children to repeat the story. 

(41) 



42 LITTLE LESSONS IN PLANT LIFE. 

"I want to get up," the snowdrop said, 
As she loosened the wraps about her head, 
"It may be the world is white with snow, 
Yet I'd rather be there than here below. 
'Tis horrid to be curled up so tight 
I want to look out and see the light. 

"My little sisters are fast asleep, 

And I am the first to take a peep 

Out of my bed, where, snugly rolled, 

I slept in warm blankets, fold on fold, 

But now I am ever so wide awake 

And it's surely time for the morn to break. 

"My dress is the prettiest ever seen, 
'Tis white with an overskirt of green, 
With such pretty silken cords that hold 
As many tiny tassels of gold. 
Oh, I have been working, never fear, 
To look my best when I do appear. 

"And I must welcome the song birds home; 
There seems such a stirring all around, 
And I hear new voices above the ground. 
The buds on the willows are calling, come, 
And this is the message they bring I guess, 
'Get up, little maid! it is time to dress.' ' 

— Primary Education, 

Where was the little Snowdrop? What season 
was it when she was tying under the ground? 
What did she want to do? What were her sisters 
doing? Who are her sisters? 

Is the Snowdrop an early or a late spring flower? 



LITTLE LESSONS IN PLANT LrFE. 43 

What is the color of her dress? What did she 
say she had been doing under the ground? 

Where had the song-birds been ? In what season 
do they come back to us? 

What message did she think the willow buds were 
bringing to her? 

Who will learn this poem to recite before the 
class next Friday ? 

I think you would like to draw the Snowdrop. I 
have made a picture of one on the board. Practice 
on your slates first, and then copy in your books. 



LESSON XVI. 
STEMS. 

Preparation. — Some woody branches and some herba- 
ceous plants or stems. 

Did you ever wonder how the food gets from the 
roots to the leaves and to all parts o*f the plant? 

The stalks and stems are filled with little pipes, 
or tubes, and just as the blood runs through your 
veins to all parts of your body, so the blood of the 
plant, which is called sap, runs through these pipes 
in the stems and carries food to all parts of the 
plant. 

Stems are the parts of the plant on which the 
leaves, flowers and fruit grow. Some of them have 
wood in them and some have not. Plants that have 
no wood in their stems are called herbs, and have 
herbaceous stems. I will write that word on the 
board that you may learn to spell it. 



j3$W vtme&t4>dz^\ 



Plants that have herbaceous stems die down to 
the ground in the autumn, though the roots may 
live through the winter. 

I have on my desk to-day a lettuce plant and some 
hyacinths; also, as you see, a branch of the maple 
tree, one of the elm, and another of cedar. Susie, 

(44) 



LITTLE LESSONS IN PLANT LIFE. '45 

pick out a woody stem. Percy, what kind of stem 
has this lettuce? Willie, put all the herbaceous 
steins in one pile and the woody stems in another. 
Lucy, what kind of stems have these hyacinths? 
Why do you say they are herbaceous? Mention 
some plants with w 7 oody stems and some with her- 
baceous stems. 



Qt, 



fr&t/'Z? . j^r-e4,'fr€i>'Ce&€&d. 






I will write the list on the board and get you to 
copy it. Be careful to spell the words correctl\<. 
To-morrow I will rub them off, and we will have 
them for a spelling lesson. You may keep them on 
your slates to study at home. 



LESSON XVII. 

I will ask you to look at the plants in the window. 
Of what color are the stems? "Green." Yes, 
steins are generally green ; some, however, are brown, 
others purplish, and you will find some that are red. 

At first sight, they appear much alike, but as you 
study them I think you will find many points of 
difference. 

They have many ways of growing. We will talk 
about some of them to-day. 

But before I do so, I want to call your attention 
to the fact that plants move and act. They have life, 
and act in some respects as living beings. The 
motion of a plant is very slow, but yet it moves. 
You cannot see the motion of the hour-hand of the 
clock, but you know it moves. Just so with the 
plant. 

Some plants move by trailing on the ground, like 
the strawberry and verbena, of which I told you, 
and often take root and make new plants. 




Some move by twining, or winding, around some 
other body. I will twine this string around this 

(46) 



LITTLE LESSONS IN PLANT LIFE. 



47 



pencil and you may tell me if you have ever seen 
a plant twining around any body in this way. "Oh 
yes, the morning-glory vine 
twines around the pillars of 
our porch in that way." Yes, 
and you who have seen beans 
growing, saw that they twined 
or moved around a pole in the 
same way. Can any of you tell 
which way the morning-glory 
vines twine, whether from left 
to right or right to left? They 
always twine the same way. 
You may find that out your- 
selves by examining them this 
evening. 

The stems of very many 
plants grow upright. Look at 
the window-plants again. Who 
will tell how their stems grow? 

Some plants climb by ten- 
drils, which are only a kind of 
stem. I will draw a picture of 
them on the board. Look at 
it. Can you think of any 
plant on which you have seen 
tendrils growing? "Grape 
vines. " Yes; and gourd vines, too, have beautiful 
tendrils. They are very slender and some of them 




Twininsr. 



4 8 



LITTLE LESSONS IN PLANT LIFE. 



have a turning, or revolving, motion which gives 
them a good opportunity to come in contact with 
something to cling to. If they do not find anything 
after growing to some length, they die. 

When a tendril comes in contact with a pole or a 
wire, or anything to which it can cling, it winds 
itself tightly around it, and thus supports the vine, 
which, as it climbs, will continue to throw out new 




tendrils. Stems that are too weak to stand up are 
called vines. 

Some stems put out air- roots, by which they 
climb. You remember I showed them to you on a 
piece of ivy when we were studying roots. Some- 
times they are called "holdfasts." I fancy the 
ivy loves the object to which it clings. It certainly 
holds on to it with a firm grasp. 

Stems have other ways of climbing, or moving, of 
which you will learn when you are older. 



LESSON XVIII. 

I know you will be glad to hear that our lesson 
to-day will be a story. It is about a vine. Listen 
attentively while I read it to you. I shall expect 
you to tell the whole story to me, or answ r er any 
question I may ask about it, after you have heard 
it read. 

Before we begin, I would like to know how many 
can tell which way the morning-glory vine twines. I 
see your little eyes were busy yesterday evening. 
That is right. I do not wish to tell you anything 
you can find out for yourself. Mar}^ may tell. 
4 ' From left to right. ' ' How many think the answer 
correct? You are right, it is correct. 

Plants love the light and w 7 ill make great efforts 
to get to it. Let us imitate them in that respect. 
Our story is called ' 'Seeking the Light/' 

SEEKING THE LIGHT. 

"O'papa!" It was Master Fred's voice. It was not the 
cry of alarm or distress, but one of intense surprise. 

Mr. Darrell descended the steps which led into the cellar, 
and saw his son staring at a long, frail, whitish-yellow 
vine that had clambered across the floor. 

"What is it, papa?" asked Fred, "and where did it 
come from?" 

"We'll soon see," replied the father. He lit a match, 
and followed the vine to a dark corner ; and Fred saw that 
4 (49) 



50 LITTLE LESSONS IN PLANT LIFE. 

it had grown out of a half-decayed potato. "Why, that's 
queer, isn't it?" he asked. 

"It is not unusual," said his father; "the vine simply 
obeyed a law of its nature. In what direction does it 
creep?" 

"Toward the cellar window, ' ' Fred said, after a moment's 
hesitation. 

"Attracted by what?" asked his father, "and to find 
what?" 

"Sunshine, I guess," was Fred's answer. 

"Yes, my son. And see how eagerly it has sought the 
light. The fireplace was in its way, and it crept around it ; 
the vinegar barrel was in its way, and it crept over it. 
Now let us examine the end of the vine. " As he spoke, 
he led the way to the window. "See!" he said. "It has 
put out leaves at the point ; and the ends of the leaves are 
tinted with a delicate green, a tint and vigor which it gets 
from the sunlight, which will grow greener and stronger 
every day. If you turn the vine away from the window, 
and come and look at it to-morrow, you will find that it 
has set out for the light again. ' ' 

"Would it?" asked Fred, much surprised. 

1 ' Yes, my boy ; I have tried the experiment. What does 
the plant seem to desire most?" 

"Light," replied Fred. 

"And what shall we learn from that?" 

Fred thought for a moment. "That the plant needs 
light in order to live," he said; "and that we, as well as 
the plants, need sunshine. ' ' 

1 ' But there is a spiritual significance, ' ' his father gravely 
remarked. 

A thoughtful look came into Fred's face. "I know what 
you mean, papa, "he said ;" our hearts and souls need light. " 

"Or we will not grow," added his father. — Sunday 
School Visitor. 



LESSON XIX. 

Preparation. — Some small branches of maple or poplar, 
and a twig from a rose bush. 

What are these little sharp things on this branch 
of the rose bush ? "Thorns." Yes. John, take 
the branch and pull off one of them and tell us if it 
is woody or herbaceous. "It is woody. ' ' Did you 
ever have your hands stuck by briers when picking 
blackberries? "Yes, indeed." Then you know 
what a brier is. But did you know that thorns and 
briers are stems? You had not thought of them as 
such, but they are. 

Some plants have very slender stems, which would 
be too weak to stand upright, if the roots did not 
take up from the soil a stony or flint}' substance, 
which the sap carries up to the stalks, thus making 
them tough and strong. You remember that you 
learned that the roots took up from the soil what 
the plants liked and needed. Isn't it wonderful 
that the plant knows just what it needs? 

Tall grasses, wheat and rye, have slender stems 
that are made to stand up straight in this way. 
Plants have stems and stalks. Trees have trunks. 
Sometimes the trunk extends from the ground to 
the top of the tree. It is then called excurrent. 
When the trunk grows for some feet straight above 
ground and then divides and sub-divides into so 

(5i) 



52 LITTLE LESSONS IN PLANT LIFE. 

man} 7 branches that it is lost, it is said to be deli- 
quescent. Look out of this window at that cotton- 
wood tree. Who will tell whether its trunk is 
excurrent or deliquescent? Maud, why did you say 
it was excurrent? Notice the trees this evening 
and tell me to-morrow which have excurrent and 
which deliquescent trunks. I will write those 
words on the board that you may learn to spell 
them. 

What is the trunk of the tree? John may tell 
me. "Its largest stem." You are about right, the 
main stem is called the trunk. What is the shape 
of the trunk? Is it strong? Why should it be 
strong ? ' 'To hold the branches. ' ' Yes ; the weight 
of the branches would break the tree down if the 
trunk w 7 ere not strong. 

Stems are generally round, but some of them have 
other shapes. I will draw a stem, with its leaves, on 
the board. Look at this little branch I am holding. 
The point on the stem from which a new 7 leaf starts 
is called a node. The spaces between the nodes are 
called internodes. I will touch with my pencil each 
node on the branch. Who w 7 ill come and point to 
the nodes in the drawing? Who will show the 
internodes? The class will tell as I touch the dif- 
ferent points on this stem whether I am touching a 
node or an internode. I will give each of you a 
little branch. Pull off a leaf. Touch with your 
pencils the little hollow on the upper side of the 



LITTLE LESSONS IN PLANT LIFE. 



53 



leaf where it joins the stem. That point is called 
the axil of the leaf. So you see the axil of the leaf 
and the node of the stem are very near together; 
one is a part of the stem, the other a part of the leaf. 




John, can you tell me where the new branches 
start? What is a node? Where is the axil of the 
leaf? What is an internode? Who w 7 ill come and 
take this branch and point out all the nodes and 



54 LITTLE LESSONS IN PLANT LIFE. 

internodes on the stem? Who will show the axils 
of the leaves? 

Now, who can tell the use of the stems? 

2,t/. dX^ ^&&d €*%€> fit feed €%&,/' ce7,4,4,<2f 

I have written your answers on the board. Copy 
them in your books, and then draw the picture of 
the stem with its leaves. 



LESSON XX. 
SPELLING AND REVIEW. 



e-md. c Jd4t=-e4d. 



Qte0</-'. 



ftH 



<e. 



What are stems ? 

When is a stem said to be woody? 

When herbaceous? 

Mention some ways by which plants move. 

What is meant by trailing? 

Mention some trailing plants. 

What is the trunk of a tree ? 

Give another word for twining. 

Mention some plants that climb by twining. 

When is the trunk of a tree said to be excurrent ? 

Mention some trees that have excurrent trunks. 

What are deliquescent trunks? 

Mention some trees that have them. 

What point on the stem is called a node? What 
are the internodes? 

Mention some plants that have tendrils. Of what 
use are tendrils? 

(55) 



56 UTTLE LESSONS IN PLANT LIFE. 

What is a thorn ? 

What is sap? How does it get from the roots to 
the leaves? 

Of what color are stems? What is the general 
shape of stems? 

Why should the trunk of the tree be strong? 

What is meant by sub-divides? 



LESSON XXI. 
LEAF BUDS. 

(Lessons for the Autumn. ) 

Note To Teacher. — Distribute little branches of differ- 
ent trees among the children, and have a number of differ- 
ent kinds of autumn leaves on the desk. 

Please examine the branch you hold in your 
hands. Roy, tell what you see on 
your branch. " 1 see pointed buds. " 
Jennie, what is on yours? "I sup- 
pose they are buds, but they are not 
like those on Roy's branch. " What 
is the difference? "These are 
smaller, and nearly round. ' ' 

There are two kinds of buds, 
flower-buds and leaf-buds. We will 
study the leaf- buds. Where are 
the buds found on the stem? "One 
is at the end of the stem and the 
others are at the sides of it. ' ' 
Where is the largest and strongest 
bud? " At the end." Yes; and it 
is called the terminal bud, because it 
terminates, or ends, the stem. The 
main stem always grows from a ter- 
minal bud. The buds at the sides 
are called axillary buds, because 

(57) 



58 LITTLE LESSONS IN PLANT LIKE. 

they grow in the axils of the leaves. The branches 
grow from them. I will write on the board. 

C^4f<z t4%€z4 4f£Zj 

Please pronounce and spell those words. Willie, 
show the axillary buds on your branch. Emma, 
show the terminal bud. I will ask the class to touch 
the terminal bud on the branches they hold, calling 
it by name as they do so, also the axillary buds. 

Are there any leaves on those branches? What 
became of them ? ' ' They dropped off when Jack 
Frost came." Here are some autumn leaves. I 
will hold some of them up, and Mary may tell me 
what change took place in them, before they fell. 
"Some of them turned red, some brown, and some 
yellow." Lillian may come and pick out a yellow 
leaf, Bertha a brown one, and Charlie a red one. 
The trees had put on their autumn dress when these 
were gathered. Why the leaves change color before 
they fall, I cannot tell you. I do not think any- 
body knows. 

On my way to the Chicago Exposition, I passed 
through the mountains after the trees had put on 
their autumn garb. I never saw anything more 
beautiful. The mountains looked like gigantic 
bouquets. The trees on them were clothed in 



LITTLE LESSONS IN PLANT LIFE. 59 

green, red, yellow, and brown, and so many different 
shades of these colors! Nothing I saw at the great 
fair gave me such exquisite pleasure as the scenery 
of the mountains with the trees in their autumn 
dress. 

I will write some lines about autumn leaves on 
the board. 

~ -tit &<w <tf#-zt'l €c4,-edd &ff 4e€Z <&W€Z -ez&lfiz; 
^etz^Md tzl&'U* tw<zi&. 

v&i&'n /^e^ e&'me ^^l/e^^ri^ , awe 
mw-cc tit 



££<22 



60 UTTLK LESSONS IN PLANT LIFE. 

(<2fi't'r2,<a>'i'7viz> 4&e d#4?t ^€&e d&-n-ezd <£&fif 



— George Cooper. 

The class will please read those lines. How 
many will commit them to memory ? Copy them in 
your books now, after w r hich draw a picture of a 
stem with its buds. I have made one on the board. 



LESSON XXII. 

Preparation. — Branches with autumn buds scattered 
about on the desks. 

I hope that our lesson yesterday served to awaken 
an interest in buds, and that you have been think- 
ing of them. 

Are there any questions you would like to ask? 
I shall be glad to answer them as far as I can. I 
see Carrie has a question. What is it? "What 
•are these three-cornered places I see on the stem, 
just under the buds? 1 ' lam glad you asked that 
question. They are leaf-scars. When the leaf 
drops off, it leaves where it had been a kind of 
healed-over scar, which is what you see. 

John, I am reach' to hear your question. "W^hat 
are these little dots on the sear?" 

The}' are the ends of the little fibres, or threads, 
that ran out from the stem into the leaf and held 
the leaf bound to the stem. They are sometimes 
called woody bundles. Yesterday some one said the 
leaves dropped off because Jack Frost came. I have 
seen them dropping off before he came, so there must 
be some other reason for their falling. I will try to 
explain it. The tree sleeps all the winter, and when 
it is getting ready for its winter nap, the food, or 
sap, gradually stops running up to the leaves through 
the little fibres, and goes down into the roots, where 

(61) 



62 



LITTLE LESSONS IN PLANT LIFE. 



it stays all winter. The fibres not only serve to 
hold the leaf on to the stem, but the sap also flows 

through them to 
the leaf. Whe n 
the sap stops com- 
ing up, the fibres 
shrivel up and die. 
They are then not 
strong enough to 
hold the leaf on, 
and the slightest 
little puff of wind, 
or even the weight 
of an insect, will 
cause it to fall. 
But away back 
in the summer, 
; \ tiny buds had 
j put out from the 
I stems just w r here 
the leaves joined 
on to them. The 
ends of the 
leaves seem hollowed out to 
make room for them. These 
little buds growing right at 
the foot, or in the axil, of the 
leaves also help to push them off. So Jack Frost is 
not so much to blame as you thought. You see, 




LITTLE LESSONS IN PLANT LIFE. 63 

with the weakened fibres and the pushing buds, the 
leaves would find it hard to hold on. The buds 
are very young and tender, and would die of 
cold did not Mother Nature wrap them up so 
carefully. Nice little brown hoods she puts on 
them, which she glues down tightly to keep out the 
cold, and to keep the wind from blowing them off. 
The baby leaves are huddled close together in these 
hoods, and through the long, cold winter kept snug 
and warm. Of course, many buds die, but so many 
are left that we do not miss them. Tucked down 
in the hoods, so that not a bit of room is wasted, 
the leaves sleep until the weather begins to get 
warm in the spring; then they begin to grow. 
Soon the hoods are too small for them. The sun- 
shine loosens the hoods, and out comes a bunch of 
tender green leaves. Some writer has called the 
buds cradles, and said that 

"There are cradles up in the trees. 

The cradles are little brown buds. 

The babies are little leaves or blossoms. " 

You may repeat that. Let us fancy, then, that the 
buds are little cradles with baby leaves covered up 
in them. I have drawn on the board a stem with 
some leaves and the buds that help to push off the 
leaves. I will ask you to draw one also. 

I have put some apple, peach, and horse-chestnut, 
or buckeye, branches in this jar of water, which I 



64 LITTLE LESSONS IN PLANT LIFE. 

will set where it will be kept warm. I wish you to 
watch the buds swell and unfold. Some of them 
may perhaps blossom for us. 

What month is it when the buds begin to swell 
and unfold? ' ' I think it is April." It is April, 
4 'the month of the swelling buds, the springing 
grass, the first nests, the first plantings, and the first 
flowers. M — {Burroughs. ) 



LESSON XXIII. 
LANGUAGE WORK. 

THE BUDS' WINTER CRADLE. 

Rock-a-b}'e, baby, 
On the tree-top. 

This is what the winds are w T hispering to the large horse - 
chestnut trees. Not only is there one baby among the 
horse-chestnut trees, but many hundreds of babies. 

To be sure, they are not pink and white babies, w r ith 
big blue eyes and lovely, curling hair, such as we see in 
sunny nurseries, lying in their pretty little cradles ; but 
they are babies, all the same. 

Dame Nature calls them Buds, to distinguish them from 
her flesh and blood babies who live in houses. When 
Dame Nature was first given charge of all the flowers and 
trees and birds and little children, and many other things, 
she said : 

"Dear me! How shall I keep those little horse-chestnut 
babies w T arm during the long, cold winter?" 

She thought about it a long time. Then she fashioned a 
tiny cradle of brown scales, and covered it with a sticky 
substance, so that neither the rain nor snow r could pene- 
trate to the tender Bud. 

And — Oh, yes ! of course babies alw T ays have soft little 
blankets laid over them when in their cradles. So Dame 
Nature lined the entire inside of the Bud's winter cradle 
with a thick wdiite blanket, to keep the horse-chestnut 
baby dry and warm. 

It was many years ago that Dame Nature made her first 
cradle, but every year since then she has made thousands 
5 (65) 



66 LITTLE LESSONS IN PLANT LIFE. 

of little cradles. Then she sends the winds to whistle 
around the bare branches of the horse-chestnut trees. 

They bend and twist the boughs in every direction, but 

When the bough bends 
The cradle will rock. 

So every gust of wind sets thousands of little cradles 
rocking to and fro; and thousands of little Buds, lulled by 
the motion, nod and dream and slumber on. 

But when the spring rains and warm sunshine come again, 
just watch the life and stir among the horse-chestnut trees. 

All the little Buds will waken from their deep sleep. 
They will grow very rapidly, and some day, in stretching 
themselves, just as all babies do, they will somehow burst 
open their snug brown cradles, and will push forth a tiny 
green head to the world without. 

Just watch and see if my story is not true. — Mary C. 
Spaulding, in Youths' Companion. 



LESSON XXIV. 

(A Lesson for Winter. ) 
Preparation. — Branches of the horse- chestnut tree. 

Children, I have here some branches of the horse- 
chestnut tree. I got them for you in St. John's 
churchyard. I will try to give each of you a bud. 
I told you the buds had little brown hoods on them. 
Let us find out all we can about them. The bud I 
gave you is an axillary bud. I have a terminal 
bud. We will see, when we open them, if there is 
any difference. Take a pin and pick off the first 
pair of scales. They come off in pairs. I mean 
those little brown things that look something like 
leaves. "What are they?" They are called bud- 
scales, but are really imperfect leaves that protect 
the young leaves from the cold, and also contain the 
food for them. Be careful not to break the scales 
in getting them off. Notice how strong the outside 
scales are. Mary, how many pairs have you taken 
off? ' ' Four. ' ' Is the last pair as brown and thick 
as the first? "No; they are softer and more ten- 
der. ' ' Yes ; each pair is larger and more like a real 
leaf than the pair before it. What else do you 
notice about the bud-scales? " The}' are stick}-." 
Yes; did I not tell you that Mother Nature glued 
the little hoods on ? Count the pairs of scales on 

(67) 



68 LITTLE LESSONS IN PLANT LIFE. 

your bud. How many pairs ? ' 'Six pairs. ' ' I will 
count them on the terminal bud that I have. Seven 
pairs here. There is a point of difference. 

Look at your bud again. Can you see anything 
else ? ' 'Oh yes, something white and like cotton !" 
Pick it off. What do you find ? ' ' The baby-leaf. ' ' 
Only one? "No, there are several." Take this 
magnifying-glass and look at it under that. You 
have found, then, the leaves protected on the out- 




side by bud-scales, and on the inside by a cotton- 
like substance folded around them. 

Here in the centre of this terminal bud is a curi- 
ous-looking bunch of something. I will show it to 
you under the glass. What do you think it is? 
"Is it a flower?" Yes; a little bunch of horse- 
chestnut flower-buds. So, in the terminal bud you 
found both leaves and flowers, and next spring, 
w T hen the horse-chestnut buds open, the flowers and 
leaves will come out at the same time. This is true 



LITTLE LESSONS IN PLANT LIFE. 69 

of the lilac also, as well as of many other trees and 
plants. On some trees the flower-buds open before 
the leaf-buds. I know you have seen peach trees 
in full bloom without a leaf on them. Buds do not 
grow in the winter. When they begin to grow, in 
the spring, the hoods soon get too small to hold the 
leaves and flowers. They burst open and fall to 
the ground. Their work of protecting and feeding 
the young leaves is done. They are no longer of 
any use. 

Buds will grow into twigs by the end of next 
summer. The poet Bryant speaks of them as 

"Buds which the breath of summer days 
Shall lengthen into leafy sprays. ' ' 

But don't think that all the buds will grow: the 
tree would have too many leaves if they did; many 
of them that live do not grow, they remain just as 
they are, sometimes for several years. They are 
called dormant, or sleeping, buds. 



LESSON XXV. 
SPELLING AND REVIEW. 

jseaff=dc€Z'ld . (w<n=ff&4%i. 

What is the difference between a flower-bud and 
a leaf-bud? Mention some tree or plant, the buds 
of which contain both the leaves and flowers. 

What are the terminal buds? Axillary buds? 
Dormant buds? Explain why the leaves fall in 
autumn. What are leaf -scars ? How are leaf -buds 
protected from the cold on the outside ? What are 
bud-scales? Of what use are they ? 

Give another word for unfold. How are the 
hoods kept on the buds ? What is meant hy imper- 
fect? Give another word for shrivel. Which are 
the largest and strongest buds ? 

How did we find the horse-chestnut leaves pro- 
tected from cold on the inside of the bud ? 

What will buds grow into during the summer? 

Why do not all the buds grow ? 



(7o) 



LESSON XXVI. 
LEAVES. 

We begin to-day the study of leaves. I hope you 
will find it interesting. You have doubtless looked 
at a great many leaves with "unseeing e} r es. " I 
shall be glad if I can help you to look at them with 
more observant or better trained eyes. Perhaps you 
will be surprised to find how beautiful and interest- 
ing leaves are. 

Willie, will you go out into the yard and bring 
us some leaves ? Get enough to give every child in 
the room one. John will distribute the leaves that 
Willie has brought. 

I w r ill teach you the names of the different parts 
of the leaf. 

First, the flat green part of the leaf, this part 
around which you see me passing my pencil, is 
called the blade. Hold your leaves down firmly on 
your slates, and take your pencils and draw a line 
around the blade of the leaf. I will draw on the 
board. Now we have a picture of the blade. This 
little stem at the foot of the leaf is called the foot- 
stalk, or petiole. Some leaves have very short 
petioles, some none at all. Let us join a footstalk 
on to the blade in our picture. Turn your leaf over 
and look at the back of it. Do you see that rib 

(7i) 



72 



LITTLE LESSONS IN PLANT LIFE. 



passing down the centre of it? That is the mid- 
rib. Now we will put the mid-rib in our drawing, 
by continuing the line from the footstalk to the end 
of the leaf. Break the mid-rib of your leaf. What 
has happened to it ? "It will not stand out 



Vein 



Mid-rib.— V 




— Veinlets. 



Blade. 



Footstalk, 
or Petiole. 



Stipule. 



straight." Then who can tell the use of the mid- 
rib ? ' 'To hold the leaf out straight. ' ' Certainly. 
Look at the back of the leaf again ; see those little 
ribs running out on each side from the mid-rib. 
They are veins ; let us put them in the drawing 
also. Hold the leaf up to the light and look at it. 



UTTLE LESSONS IN PLANT LIFE. 73 

What do you see? "We see many little veins." 
They are called veinlets. Make the veinlets with 
slight, delicate strokes. Some leaves have some- 
thing that looks like two little leaves, growing at 
the base of the footstalk. This rose geranium, in 
the window here, has them. I will set it on the 
desk in front of the class so that you all may see 
them. These are called stipules. Some leaves 
have the stipules and some do not have them. Add 
them to your drawing. 

Now, let us mention the parts of the leaf, touch- 
ing each part as we mention it. I will write their 
names here on the board. Susie, come here and 
touch the footstalk of this leaf, and then show the 
word footstalk on the board, and spell it. Walter, 
the stipules. Mary, the mid-rib. James, the blade. 
Alice, the veins. John, the veinlets. 

Let us imagine the leaf is talking to us. Repeat 
what it says about itself. 

THE VOICE OF A LEAF. 

I was born of a bud in springtime, 

And fed by the gentle showers, 
The genial rays of the kindly sun 

Gave strength to my earlier hours. 

The thoughtful Summer rocked me, 

In the cradle of her storm, 
And I grew by magic forces, 

Into fair and perfect form. 

— Selected, 



LESSON XXVII. 



Preparation. — Sweet-gurn and maple leaves. 

John and Walter will please go out and bring us 
some maple leaves. While they are gone, I will 
give each of you a sw r eet-gum leaf; I gathered quite 
a number yesterday. I wish you to draw a picture 

of it. Study the leaf 
for a moment. How 
many points has it ? 
1 ' It has five points. ' ' 
Then draw a picture 
having five points. 
How many large ribs 
do you see ? ■ 'There 
are five of them 
also. ' ' How are they 
arranged? "One runs out to each point." Why 
should each point need one ? Where do they 
begin ? Leaves that are veined like this are said to 
be palmate veined, because some have thought that 
they looked like the palm of the hand, when the 
fingers are stretched out. Look at your leaf, and 
then turn your hands over, palms up, and stretch 
out your fingers. Do the} 7 look alike ? Can you 
see any resemblance between the leaf and your hand ? 
4 'I think I do. "—"I do not." At any rate, when 
you see leaves veined in this way, you can think of 

(74) 




LITTLK LKSSONS IN PLANT LIFK. 75 

the palm of your hand and remember they are 
palmate veined. Hold up the leaves and try to look 
through them. Do you see the network of little 
veins, or veinlets? All leaves having this network 
are said to be net-veined. This leaf is, then, both 
palmate and net-veined; palmate describes the large 
veins, and net the little veins, or veinlets. 

Take these maple leaves the boys have brought 
us. How many can tell how they are veined ? The 
class may tell. "They are palmate veined. " Cor- 
rect; but is that all? ' 'They are net-veined also. " 

Right. Lottie, of what use are these veins and 
veinlets to the leaf? "I don't know." Suppose 
you stuck a needle into one of the veins in the back 
of your hand, what would happen ? • 'The blood 
would come out." The sap, or food, for the plant 
flows through the veins of the plant just as the 
blood flows through the veins in your body, and 
the veins and veinlets carry the sap to every part 
of the leaf. These leaves, you know, will be with- 
ered by to-morrow T . Why? What would happen 
to your hand if it was cut off from your arm ? It 
is just so with the leaf; it has been cut off from the 
tree, and can no longer be fed by the sap, and so 
must die in a short time. 

I wish you to draw a sweet-gum leaf in your 
books this evening; and each of you bring me to- 
morrow three palmate net-veined leaves, gathered 
from three different kinds of trees. 



LESSON XXVIII. 



Preparation. — Elm, magnolia and grass leaves. Put an 
elm leaf on each desk. 

How many can tell on what tree those leaves you 
have grew ? John says he wants to tell us. "They 
are elm leaves." Yes; I gathered them this morn- 
ing on my way to school, from the elm tree on the 
square above here. I am 
glad that John is learning the 
leaves of the different trees. 
I hope that every child in the 
room will soon be able to tell 
the names, and know the 
leaves, of every tree that 
grows in and around our city. 
Look at the veining of your 
leaf, and tell me if it reminds 
you of anything you ever saw 
before. I see you are all eager 
to tell ; so what is it like ? "It 
is like a feather." Correct; 
so it is said to be feather- 
veined. Is it not net-veined 
also ? ' ' It is. ' ' Net-veined 
leaves may be either palmate-veined or feather- 
veined. How many large ribs has the elm leaf? 
"'One." Where does that begin? "It begins just 

(76) 




LITTLE LESSONS IN PLANT LIFE. 



77 



where the blade and footstalk meet." You notice 
that from this spring out on each side the veins, in 
a regular way, which makes it look 
like a feather. Here are some grass 
leaves. Ma)', distribute them for me, 
please. Compare the grass leaf w T ith 
the elm leaf. Are they veined alike ? 
How do they differ ? "I see they are 
not alike, but I can't tell the differ- 
ence." Thank you; I am glad to 
know what your trouble is. Look at 
the planks in this floor, and the little 
seams between them. When lines run 
in that way, they are said to be par- 
allel to each other. I will 
draw 7 some parallel lines on 
the board. The rails on 
the car track are parallel to 
each other. Now, can't 
you tell how the veins in 
your leaf run? "They are parallel. " 
They are, and you may say the leaf 
is parallel-veined. Now, hold it up to 
the light and see if it is also net-veined. 
"We do not see an}' network of veins.' ' 
You are right. If they are net-veined, 
it is so indistinct that we cannot see 
it. Look for feather-veined and paral- 
lel-veined leaves, and bring me some specimens of 





78 



LITTLE LESSONS IN PLANT LIFE. 



each tomorrow. I should be glad if 3^011 would 

draw pictures of them also, and bring me. I shall 
keep the best pictures, and paste 
them in my book. I have here on 
the board pictures of other feather- 
veined leaves. I will ask you now 
to notice the edges of the grass leaf, 
and the elm leaf. Are they alike*? 
"They are not " Tell the difference. 
"The elm leaf has very small scal- 
lops; the grass leaf has none." As 
you study leaves, you will find that 
the edges are cut in a great many 
different ways: some are scalloped, 
some jagged, some wavy, and some 
very wavy. You will learn more of 
that hereafter. Here I shall only ask 
you to notice if the} 7 are cut or 
uncut. When the edge bends in and 

out, we say it is cut; when it is plainly curved, 

like the grass leaf, we say it is uncut, or entire. 

Is the edge of the sweet-gum leaf cut or uncut ? 

The maple? The magnolia? Mention leaves with 

uncut, or entire, edges. 




LESSON XXIX. 



Note to Teacher. — Prepare locust, rose, clover, horse- 
chestnut, and poplar leaves. A collection of pressed leaves 
is very useful. Place a simple and a compound leaf on 
each desk. 

Leaves are either simple or compound. Hold up 
the leaf like this one I am showing. Who can tell 



what kind of 
lar leaf. We 
trees in our 
poplar leaf, 
the poplar 
"Yes, I 
a simple 



leaf it is? "It is a pop- 
have several poplar 
yard. " Yes; it is a 
Lulu, is the blade of 
leaf all in one piece ? 
think it is. " Then it is 
leaf; it has but one 
piece in the blade. 
Take up 
the other 
leaf. You 
all know it 
is a rose 
leaf. Is it 
one piece? 
it seems to 
be made up of small 
leaves. " Call them 
leaflets. Count 
them. How many 
leaflets has this rose leaf, Walter? "It has five." 

179) 




8o 



LITTLE LESSONS IN PLANT LIFE. 




Then it took five leaflets to make the blade of 
this rose leaf. I do not mean to say, however, that 
all rose leaves have five leaflets. 
Here is another leaf; it came 
from the locust tree. What shall 
I call these little leaves ? Charlie, 
count, as I touch them, and tell 
how many leaflets there are in 
this locust leaf. "I counted fif- 
teen." Then, you see, it took 
fifteen pieces, or leaflets, to make 
one blade. It is a compound 
leaf. A simple leaf has but one 
piece in the blade ; a compound leaf has more than 
one. The leaflets you notice in the rose leaf and 
the locust leaf are arranged on the stem in pairs 
opposite each other. 
They are not, how- 
ever, always ar- 
ranged thus in com- 
pound leaves. Some- 
times all the leaflets 
are attached to the 
upper end of the 
footstalk, as you see 
here in this clover 
leaf. How many 
leaflets has the 
clover leaf ? Where are they ? 




"At the end of the 



LITTLE LESSONS IN PLANT LIFE. 



footstalk." I have here drawn on the board a 
picture of a compound leaf, with five leaflets all 
joined to the head of the foot- 
stalk. Here is a horse-chest- 
nut leaf. Who will tell how 
many leaflets it has, and w T here 
they are? You will find com- 
pound leaves with three, five, 
seven, and perhaps some with 
more than seven, leaflets, all at- 
tached to the upper end of the 
footstalk. I wish you would 
collect as many different kinds 
of compound leaves as you can, 
and paste them in your books. 
Press the leaves first and then 
put a little paste on the end of 
each leaflet, and fasten it down. 
Who will tell me, now, the dif- 
ference between a simple and a ' 
compound leaf? Janie, show a 
leaflet. Carrie, show a leaf 
with opposite leaflets. Cordie, 
one w T ith the leaflets attached to 
the upper end of the footstalk. 
I will ask you to draw a picture of the locust leaf, 
and also one of the clover leaf. 




Locust Leaf. 



Preparation. 
wood. 



LESSON XXX. 

-A branch of maple, and one of cotton- 



Leaves have three ways of arranging themselves 
on the stem — opposite, alternate, and whorled. 
Look at this maple branch I am 
holding. You see the leaves are 
in twos, just opposite each other 
on the stem. We say, 
then, that they are op- 
, posite. But this Cot- 
tonwood branch is dif- 
erent. Can any one 
tell how these leaves 
are arranged? "First 
on one side, and then 
on the other. ' ! Yes ; 
they follow one an- 
other up the stem; 
only one leaf at each 
node, changing from 
side to side, each leaf coming out on the opposite 
side from the one next below it. In other words, 
these are alternate. Do you see any plants in this 
room with alternate leaves ? If so, tell which the} 7 are. 
Opposite and alternate are the two commonways 
in which leaves are arranged on the stem. I will 
tell you about the third way, which is somewhat 

(32) 




LITTLE LESSONS IN PLANT LIFE. 



•83 



uncommon. Occasionally we see a leaf that looks 

as if the stem had been pushed 

through it. Such leaves are said 

to be whorled around the stem. 

Professor Gray says it 

is only another way of 

growing opposite. 

The most common 

whorled leaf, that I 

know, is a kind of 

honeysuckle. You can 

see a picture of it on 

the next page. You 

see the stem, passing 

right through the cen 





tre of the leaf. 
Leaves have dif- 
, ferent ways of 
growing around 
the stem. I have 
been unable to get 
specimens for you, 
so will have to 

make pictures, showing some of the ways that you 

may find leaves whorled. 



84 



LITTLE LESSONS IN PLANT LIFE. 



Now, please draw three pictures. One, a stem 
with opposite leaves; another, a stem with alternate 
leaves; and the third, a whorled leaf. 




LESSON XXXI. 

Preparation. — A branch of the pine tree. 

Are there any trees that keep their leaves and 
remain green all the winter? "Oh, yes; the mag- 
nolia does. " Can you think of any other? "Cedar 
and pine." You say they are green in winter; are 
they bare in summer ? "No; they are green all the 
year. ' ' Trees that are green all the year are said 
to be evergreen, but you must not think they never 
shed their leaves. If you go into the woods you 
will find the ground under the pine trees covered 
w 7 ith pine leaves that have been falling there a long 
time. The leaves on evergreen trees hang on the 
year round, and fall only when the new leaves push 
them off in the spring ; so that the tree never gets 
bare. 

I have here a pine branch. I want you to ex- 
amine these leaves. They are put up in little 
bundles of twos, threes, and fives. I will pull them 
out, and give each of you a leaf. What is it shaped 
like ? Did you ever see knitting-needles ? Some 
people think they are shaped like them, and so the)' 
are said to be needle-shaped. Touch the footstalk 
of the pine leaf. "There is none." Don't you 
remember that I told you there were some leaves 

(85) 



86 LITTLE LESSONS IN PLANT LIFE. 

that had no footstalk ? This is one of them. Here 
is this onion we have growing in the bottle, which 
we talked about when you were studying roots. 
Have these leaves any footstalks? The pine leaf 
is long, hard, and slender, with no distinction of 
parts like the other leaves you have studied. There 
are so many different kinds of leaves, and so many 
interesting things that you may learn about them, 
I can only tell you a few of them ; but I hope they 
will serve to make you eager to learn more, when 
you grow older. I promise that there is a treat in 
store for you in the study of plant life, and that you 
may go on studying nature w r ith increasing delight, 
until you are gray-haired men and women, and then 
feel that you have turned but a few leaves of na- 
ture's book. Before we pass on to the study of 
Flowers, I want to talk a little about the 7ise of 
leaves, both to the plant and to men. 

We have seen that the roots are getting food for 
the plant, and that the stems are carrying it to all 
parts of the plant, but what are the leaves doing ? 
They are breathing for the plant. Shut your mouths 
and draw the air in through your noses as long as 
you can. Did you not feel something swelling out 
in your chests ? It was your lungs : they breathe 
for your body, and just what your lungs do for your 
body, the leaves do for the plant — they breathe for 
it; for plants live and breathe, they are, indeed, 
very much like people. 



LITTLE LESSONS IN PLANT LIFE. 87 

Leaves certainly help to make our world very 
beautiful, and are useful to men for many purposes, 
while animals feed largely upon them. Suppose 
you make, this evening, a list of the different leaves 
you know, that are used as food by men, and bring 
to me to-morrow. 



LESSON XXXII. 
LANGUAGE WORK. 

THE ROSE, THE BIRD, AND THE BROOK. 

"I will not giveaway my perfume," said a rosebud, 
holding its pink petals tightly wrapped in their tiny green 
case. The other roses bloomed in splendor; and those who 
enjoyed their fragrance exclaimed at their beauty and 
sweetness ; but the selfish bud shriveled and withered away 
unnoticed. 

"No, no," said a little bird, "I do not want to sing." 
But when his brothers soared aloft on joyous w 7 ings, pour- 
ing a flood of melody, making w r eary hearers forget sor- 
row and bless the singers, then the forlorn little bird was 
lonesome and ashamed. He tried to sing, but the power 
was gone ; he could make only a harsh, shrill chirp. 

"If I give away my wavelets, I shall not have enough 
for myself, ' ' said the brook. And it hoarded all its water 
in a hollow 7 place, where it formed a stagnant, slim}' pool. 

A boy who loved a fresh, wide-awake rose, a buoyant, 
singing bird, and a leaping, refreshing brooklet, thought 
on these things, and said: "If I would have, and would be, 
I must share all my goods with others ; for, 

" To give is to live ; 
To deny is to die." 

— Kind Words. 



(88) 



ft 7 1 



LESSON XXXIII. 
SPELLING AND REVIEW. 

Mention the parts of the leaf. What other name 
can you give for footstalk ? Where are the stipules ? 
Are all leaves furnished with stipules ? Mention 
some leaf that has none. Mention two palmate- 
veined leaves. How many ways are leaves veined ? 
Mention them. Are parallel-veined leaves also 
net-veined? Which are the net-veined leaves? 
Where do the large veins begin in a palmate-veined 
leaf ? Which way do they run ? Where do they 
begin in a feather- veined leaf? Of what use are 
veins to the leaf ? Mention two leaves with uncut 
edges, two with edges cut. Tell the difference be- 
tween a simple and a compound leaf. Mention a 
simple leaf; a compound one. 

In what two ways are the leaflets of compound 
leaves arranged ? Give examples of each. In how 
many ways do leaves arrange themselves on the 

(89) 



90 LITTLE LESSONS IN PLANT LIFE. 

stem? Mention them. Explain alternate. How 
does the stem grow in the whorled leaf ? What are 
evergreen trees? What is the shape of the pine 
leaf? Of what use are leaves to the plant ? Men- 
tion some of the uses of leaves to men. 



LESSON XXXIV. 

FLOWERS. 

NOTE. — This lesson should be taught when buttercups are 
in bloom ; before beginning, the teacher should place two 
or three on each desk. It is well to dwell on the names of 
the parts of the flower, until the children know them. 
The lesson may be divided into two or three parts, accord- 
ing to circumstances. Go slowly with young children. 

BUTTERCUPS. 

The first work of the plantlet, when it starts out 
from the seed, is to grow. The school may tell 
what its next work is. 
"It is to bloom.' ' Yes; 
to make flowers. It 
must make flowers be- 
fore it can make seeds. 
And now, we are going 
to study about the beau- 
tiful flowers, that every- 
body loves; and the 
more we know of them, 
the more we love them. 
How many want to 
study flowers ? Then 

let US begin. Buttercups. 

Who can tell the name of this little flower? "It 
is a buttercup." Oh, yes; you all know the pretty 
little buttercup. I gathered so many that I can 

(9i) 




92 LITTLE LESSONS IN PLANT LIFE. 

give each of you two or three. Where do the but- 
tercups grow? ''In the fields." Yes; they are 
wild flowers, and grow in the fields among the grass. 
Do you know that flowers, like people, are divided 
into families? The buttercup belongs to the Crow- 
foot family. I will teach you the names of the dif- 
ferent parts of the flower. Tell me what this is I 
am touching with my pencil. "It is the stem." 
You should know stems, you studied them some time 
ago. Of what use are they ? "They hold the pipes 
that carry the food, and also hold the leaves and 
flowers." You remember well } T our lessons on 
stems, I am pleased to see. So this flower grows 
on the end of a stem. At the top of the stem, right 
under the y ellow blossoms, you see some little green 
leaves. Carefully pick oft the yellow leaves of the 
blossom. What is left? "The little green leaves 
folded back against the stem." You are right. 
That is what is called a calyx. I will write the word 

on the board : 




^ 



^£0 



Let us pronounce and 

spell it. Please count the 

-sepal. little i eaves that form the 

calyx. How many ? ' 'There 

calyx. are five." Each leaf is 

called a sepal. So we say the calyx of the buttercup 

is formed of five sepals. Generally, the calyx is 



LITTLE LESSONS IN PLANT LIFE. . 93 

green, but it is not always that color. Sometimes 
the sepals are joined together for a distance, so 
that you could not pull off one without spoiling 
the whole calyx. This is true of the calyx of the 
pink. The next thing is the bloom. Take up 
another buttercup. The yellow bloom is called the 
corolla. I will write that also. 



Do you notice any difference between the outside 
and the inside of the corolla ? "The inside shines. ' ' 
Yes; it is glossy on the 
inside. What is its shape? 
' ' Like a little cup. ' ' And 
they are yellow like but- 
ter, so they are called but- 
tercups. 

Pick off the leaves of 
the corolla. How many of 
them? "There are five corolla. 

of these also. " Each leaf 
is called a petal. 

Are these petals separate, or joined together ? 
"They are separate." These are, but in some 
flowers the corolla is all in one piece, not separated 
into petals. This is the case with the morning- 
glory. Notice how easily these petals fall off. 

I will pass down the aisle and show each of you, 
under the magnifying-glass, this buttercup from 




94 



LITTLE LESSONS IN PLANT LIFE. 



Stamens. 



which I have pulled the corolla. 
What did you see? "A cluster 
of yellow threads. ' ' They are 
stamens. 



m-mewd . 



Count the stamens on the 
flower you hold; how many? 
You don't agree about the number. Let $*# f 
us say, then, it has many stamens. Pull '*-i' : ;' ; \ 
off the stamens. What do you see now? 
''Something that looks like a little green 
strawberry. " It is the pistil. 





CS^dtt- 

Pistil. 

I want you to see that under the glass also. I 
will tell you more of pistils and stamens in our next 
lesson. 

We have here, on the board, the names of the 
parts of the flower. Walter will read them. Susie, 
tell how many parts the flower has. Take another 
buttercup and mention the four parts, touching each 
part as you mention it. Copy in your books the 
names of the four parts of the flower. Lottie, what 
is the color of the corolla ? The class may tell the 
color of the calyx. Who will tell the color of the 
stamens? What is the color of the pistil? Draw a 
picture of the calyx, and also one of the corolla. 



LESSON XXXV. 
MEMORY GEM. 



^c//-/e &&-z&e4d / O* ^we ^ai^ €i<&, 

J&f&tC -td> <eZ&&tC €1<W€Z 4A<£€Zd ^#^£ IZ'l'&l'tA, 



d^Vwd -j^w w-w J^ffi€<w^ / M^C^ SB'twit*, 

—Julia F. Cavarly. 

Preparation. — Peach blossoms scattered about on the 
desks. 

PEACH BLOSSOMS. 

Jake, on my way to school this morning, I saw 
on your lot several peach trees in full bloom. They 
were so beautiful I stopped to admire and enjoy 
them. I thought of my school, and wished that I 
had some of those lovely blossoms for our study to- 
day. "Let me go and bring them, I didn't know 
you wanted them." Thank you very much; you 
may go, but don't injure the trees. While he is 
gone, the class may copy the lines written on the 
board and commit them to memory. Now for the 
lesson on the peach blossoms. Here they are. I 

(95) 




96 LITTLE LESSONS IN PLANT LIFE. 

will distribute them. What color are they ? ' ' They 
are pink. ' ' These are, but some kinds of peach 

trees have white blossoms. 
The peach belongs to the 
Rose family, and the bloom, 
both in color and form, re- 
minds us of a little rose. 
Let us examine the calyx. 
Of what color is that? "It 
Peach Bloom. is brown. " So you seethe 

calyx is not always green. Take the sepals off 
separately. "We can't do it, they are joined 
together." You learned a few days ago that in 
some flowers they were joined together, for a 
distance, so that one could not be pulled off with- 
out spoiling the whole. Such you see to be the 
case with the peach bloom. Pull off the corolla. 
Are the petals joined together or separate ? ' ' They 
are separate." What is left after the corolla is 
pulled off. "A whole bunch of pink stamens." 
What do you see on the ends of the stamens? 
"Little brown heads." Pick off one stamen. 
Mary, describe the stamens. "They are little pink 
threads, with brow n 

-i >, atai i i Anthers 

heads. The thread is 



called a filament, and the 

head an anther. Each I //A/" Filaments. 

stamen is composed of a 

filament and an anther. Are these stamens all the 




LITTLE LESSONS IN PLANT LIFE. 97 

same length? "The}' are not." You said the 
threads were pink; do you not see, in the centre, 
one larger than the others, that is a yellowish 
green? k, Yes. " That is not a stamen; it is 
the pistil. Carefully pull away the pink stamens. 
(^You can do it best by tearing the _ 
calyx around.) You have now the 
pistil left. When the pistil is com- 
plete it has three parts — the stig- 
ma, the style, and the seed-box. In 
the buttercup the style was want- fi'jl orovanT' 
ing; it had only stigmas and seed- 
boxes. There is, as you know, only one seed in 
each peach, and this little green knob, which you 
see at the bottom of the pistil, is the box, or ovary, 
that contains that seed. The stalk, or stem, rising 
up from the seed-box, is the style, and the little 
round head on the top of the stalk, or style, is the 
stigma. Take a pin and touch the seed-box, the 
style, and the stigma, calling the name of each as 
you touch it. 

I will write a summary on the board, which you 
may read to-day, and copy in your books to-morrow. 

SUMMARY. 




^Ut^^H<^ — ■c#'wzri&de<0z #jf de</i t 



tz-td. 



7 



98 LITTLE LESSONS IN PLANT LIFE. 



kdwv^c&iwfe&det^&ffdMtz -mm, d fz^e tzwc/ 
Copy and fix in your memory this summary. 



LESSON XXXVI. 

Preparation. — Buttercups and peach blossoms. 

Susie, what part of this buttercup am I touching? 
John, tell me the name of the parts that compose 
the calyx. The class will mention the four prin- 
cipal parts of the flower. Lula, touch each sepal of 
this buttercup, and tell how many it has. Who 
will take this one and pick off the corolla? James, 
tell the name of each of these yellow leaves, that 
have been picked off. The class ma}' tell what com- 
poses the corolla. Alice, how many petals has this 
buttercup? Mary, pick off the calyx and corolla 
of this one. Who will tell what was left? Jennie, 
take a pin and show me a filament. In some plants, 
the filaments are long, but we find them quite short 
in the buttercup, and clustered around the pistil, so 
as almost to hide it. The class ma}' mention the 
parts of the stamen. Luther, show me the anthers. 
What shape are they ? The anthers vary in shape 
in different plants; some are round, some oblong, 
and some have other shapes. The anthers are 
essential. All plants must have them, or they 
would not make seeds; but the filaments are often 
wanting, because they are not necessary to the 
plant. They are, as Professor Gray says, only "a 
kind of footstalk" to hold the anthers. Annie, I 
will ask you to take this buttercup and pick off, 

(99) 



IOO UTTLK LESSONS IN PLANT LIFR. 

first the calyx, next the corolla, and then the 
stamens. What is left ? The class may mention 
the parts of the pistil. In what part of the flower 
is the pistil? "It is in the centre. " Yes; and the 
seed is formed in it. Some flowers have a great 
many pistils. This buttercup has quite a number 
of them, but this peach blossom has only one. The 
buttercup makes a great many seeds, the peach 
blossom makes only one. 

Evety pistil must have a stigma, and a seed-case, 
but many of them have no style. Each little head 
on the pistil of this buttercup is a stigma, and 
beneath it is a little seed- box, sometimes called a 
carpel. Who will show me the st} 7 les? '" There are 
none. " You are right, the pistils of the buttercup 
have no styles. They are not necessary to the 
plant, being only stalks upon which the stigmas 
rest. Take the peach blossom, Willie, and point 
out the stigma, style, and seed-box. 

A flower that has the calyx, corolla, pistils, and 
stamens, is said to be complete ; if it lacks any one 
of these four, it is incomplete. Is the buttercup a 
complete flow r er? I will tell you what a great poet 
has said about a little flower: 

"Little flower — if I could understand 
What you are, root and all, and all in all, 
I should know what God and man is. ' ' 

— Tennyson. 

We will not be able to understand it all, but we 
can learn something about it. 



LESSON XXXVII. 

THE FORGET-ME-NOT. 

MEMORY GEM. 



■c€^€e ^^^^ &w€- -cti'me , 






DANDELIONS. 

Who will go out and gather some dandelions for 
our lesson to-day ? Thank you, Harry, you are 
always ready to help me. Do you know the dande- 
lions ? "Oh, yes; they are yellow, like the butter- 
cups, and I know a place where there are a great 
manv." Where do the dandelions grow? "In the 

(IOI) 



102 



tlfTl^E I^SSONS IN PLANT IJT-K. 



fields. ' ' How are they planted ? "They grow with- 
out planting." Flowers that grow in the fields 
without being planted are called 
w T ild flowers. Some of the pret- 
tiest flowers we have are wild. 

Here comes Harry with a 
bountiful supply of dandelions. 
I will give each of you 
one. Smell it. Has it 
any odor? "No." That 
is true of many wild 
flowers ; they are odor- 
less. Do you know 7 the 
dandelion goes to sleep 
at night? It folds itself 
at nightfall into a bud, 
and looks as if it had 
| never opened. In the morning, 
it unfolds again, but seems to 
know how to take care of itself, 
for when the sun is hot — hot 
enough to wilt it (sometimes as early as nine 
o'clock in the morning) — it folds up again. It 
goes under cover, as you go under the trees 
for shade and comfort, when the sun is too hot 
for you. What kind of stems have the dandelions ? 
"They are long, and round, and hollow. " "I know 
the use of the stems " What is it, Lottie? "They 
are good to make necklaces." So they are. All 




LITTLE LESSONS IN PLANT LIFE. 



IO3 



children enjoy making 
necklaces of dandelion 
stems. 

You notice that, though 
the buttercup and dandelion 
are the same color, they 
are very unlike in other 
respects. Look closely at 
the dandelion. Who will 
describe it? "It is a whole 
bunch of little flowers.'" 
That is just what it is. 
It is a whole bouquet of 
flowers. When you found 
a leaf made up of little 
leaves, what did you call 
it? "A compound leaf." 
Yes; and when we find a 
flower made up of many 
little flowers we call it a 
compound flower. The dan- 
delion is, then, a compound 
flow T er. Pull off one of the 
little flowers. They are 
called florets. Take this 
magnifying-glass and ex- 
amine it. Pass the glass 
from one to another. Has 
the floret any calyx. "We 




104 LITTLE LESSONS IN PLANT LIFE. 

do not see any." It has none. Notice that little 
round body that looks like a seed in the lower part 
of the floret. Can you see that ring of hairs on 
the top of it? That takes the place of a calyx, 
and when the seed is ripe, forms the little tuft of 
down that sails about in the air, and carries the 
seed away. 

Is the corolla of this floret shaped like that of the 
buttercup? "Not at all." Can you describe it? 
"The lower part is shaped like a tube. ,, It is; and 
higher up you see the tube opens and forms a sort 
of strap. 

Flowers of this class are too difficult for children 
of your age to examine fully, so we will leave a fur- 
ther examination of this until you are older. When 
you are able to make it, you w 7 ill find that each 
floret has a pistil and stamens, and is, therefore, a 
perfect flower. I wanted to show you a compound 
flower before leaving the subject of flowers. 

Notice the dandelion leaf. Who will describe it? 
It is long and slender, and its edges are very much 
cut. Is it a compound, or simple, leaf? "It is a 
simple leaf." I have made a picture of it on the 
board. You will please draw one in your books. 
The plant is called dandelion, from a phrase which 
means lion's teeth, because the edges of the leaf 
are cut in a way that resembles the teeth of a lion. 



LESSON XXXVIII. 
LANGUAGE WORK. 

THE STORY OF THE LITTLE ROSE. 

There was once a beautiful rosebush in a little girl's 
garden, and she watched and tended it carefully each day. 
One day she saw her largest and prettiest rose was wither- 
ing and looking quite cross and unhappy, and when she 
asked it, "What is the matter, Rose? You are quite 
changed, my dear. ' ' Rose pouted and looked crosser than 
before, and at last said, "I'm tired of being here on this 
bush, I don't want to be a rose any more. " 

''Very well, then, you are a naughty flower and I shall 
pluck you from your stem and put you all by yourself in a 
corner of the garden-, where you will have to take care of 
yourself. ' ' 

Soon Rose found herself dying there in the corner, and 
cried out in great fright. Then the strangest thing hap- 
pened : a little Fairy came and said, 'O little Rose, you 
were not happy as a flower, and now you do not wish to 
die, so I shall change you into just a plain green cabbage, 
and let you grow here among the weeds. ' ' 

By and by Rose felt herself growing coarse and ugly, 
and when she looked down upon her dress, she saw it 
changed from bright red velvet into plain green stuff, and 
she sobbed aloud with grief. Soon she began to under- 
stand that crying would not change matters now, and she" 
sorrowfully looked around her and saw many little weeds 
who would have been quite pretty in the sunshine, but 
seemed old and ugly in this dark corner, far from all hap- 
piness and light. She began to feel so sorry for them and 
to wish to brighten their lives, that she slowly expanded, 

(105) 



Io6 UTTLE LESSONS IN PLANT LIF£. 

and smiled upon them, and when the wind or rain was a 
little bit too rough, she would stand straight and tall beside 
them and protect them with her leaves. After a while she 
felt herself change again, and way down at her heart she 
saw a tiny pearl growing, a tiny drop, very pure and white 
and glowing, that seemed to warm her so that it made her 
very, very happy. 

Then the Fairy came again and said, "Well, little cab- 
bage, are you still cross and dissatisfied with your lot? 5> 
( ' Oh, no, indeed, dear Fairy, I am so glad to be a cab- 
bage ; why, all these little weeds are fond of me and think 
me like the sun, and so I beam upon them and make them 
happy, too. ' ' The Fairy, smiling, put her hand upon the 
cabbage head, and when the little girl came in the morn- 
ing, she saw a plain green cabbage, but it had a golden 
heart with a centre of bright pearl, and the gold was just 
Contentment, and the pearl was Sympathy. — Nettie Blu- 
menthal, in Kindergarten News. 



LESSON XXXIX. 
SPELLING AND REVIEW, 



W 



--<rn€z. Qy^-c^=t^=^yi€<^€^ 



t^=^i^<z. C 'v<w=€*ie'ld '. 



&=4>& / £='£€i-. K y€d= 



Are the filaments necessary to the plant ? Are 
anthers? Of what shape are anthers? What are 
filaments? Where, in the flower, is the pistil situ- 
ated ? Can a flower have more than one pistil ? 
Mention the parts of the pistil. Which part is 
sometimes wanting? Of what use is the style? 
What is a carpel? When is a flower said to be 
complete ? When incomplete ? Mention a complete 
flower. What is meant by odorless ? How are the 
seeds of wild flowers scattered ? What are wild 
flow r ers ? What is a compound flower ? Mention 
one. What is a floret ? Has the floret a calyx ? 
Is it a complete flower? If not, why? What is 
meant w 7 hen it is said that a part is necessary to a 
flower ? 

(107) 



LESSON XL. 
FORMATION OF SEED. 

The last, and, indeed, the most important, work 
of the plant, is to make seed. Plant-life would soon 
perish from the earth if it w 7 ere not renewed every 
year by the formation of new seed. The plant be- 
gins its life in a seed, and often ends it with their 
formation ; for many plants die w T hen their seeds are 
ripened. 

You have probably thought that the pistils and 
stamens were the least attractive and interesting 
parts of the plant, but it is to them that Mother 
Nature has assigned the important work of forming 
new seed. 

The anthers are little boxes filled with a yellow 
dust, called pollen. When the pollen is ripe, the 
anthers burst open, and the pollen flies out. In 
the lower part of the pistil are the seed-boxes, con- 
taining something that looks like small, green 
seeds, called ovules. The pollen from the bursting 
anthers falls on the stigma, which has a rough sur- 
face, thus causing the pollen to stick to it. From 
the stigma, the pollen passes down through the style 
to the ovule in the seed-box, or ovary. The seed is 
set, and begins to grow as soon as the pollen gets 
into the seed-box ; while the flower gradually fades 
and dies. 

(108) 



LITTLE LESSONS IN PLANT LIFE. IOg 

You see, then, that the use of the pistil is to hold 
and take care of the seeds until they are ripe. I 
have told you that some plants had no filaments; 
in such cases the anthers are fastened to the sides 
of the corolla. A plant could make seed without 
filaments, but could not make them without anthers, 
because the anthers contain, the pollen dust, with- 
out which no seed could be made. 

Pollen which grows on one flower will make 
better seed if carried to another flower of the same 
kind. How can it get from flower to flower? You 
will be interested to hear that the wind and insects 
do that work for the plant. The wind blows 
through the air the ripe pollen, which, while pass- 
ing about, is brought in contact with the stigmas of 
other flowers, and the bees, wasps, and sometimes 
the ants, carry it from flow 7 er to flow 7 er. 

The insects go into the flowers to get the sweet 
juice, called nectar, which flow T ers contain. Many 
insects live upon nectar. While crawling around in 
the flowers, sipping nectar, they get their legs and 
bodies covered with the pollen dust. On going to 
the next flower they shed, or drop off, some of the 
grains of pollen dust that were sticking to them, 
and so it gets from flower to flower. The insects 
want the nectar, and the flowers want to exchange 
pollen, and so they serve each other. How do you 
suppose the flowers attract the insects? "The in- 
sects come for the nectar. ' ' Yes ; and they are also 



IIO LITTLK LESSONS IX PLANT IJFK. 

attracted by the sweet perfume and the bright colons 
of the flowers. Flowers that depend upon the wind 
to carry their pollen are not bright colored, and 
have neither perfume nor nectar. If you will watch 
a bee among flowers, you will see that he visits only 
flowers of one kind. If he starts on pinks, he visits 
only pinks; if on roses, he goes altogether to roses, 
etc. It is wonderful how the insects understand the 
work of carrying pollen. They never mix the pol- 
len of different kinds of flowers. Hone} suckle pol- 
len is carried to honeysuckles, rose pollen to roses, 
and so on through the whole list of flowers. If 
they carried honeysuckle pollen to roses, no seed at 
all w T ould be made from it. A lady, who took much 
interest in watching insects, writes that she had 
one petunia growing in her flower beds. She 
w r atched a butterfly suck the nectar from it, then, 
though there were many other flowers around, he 
left her yard and flew away. She watched him, 
and found that he kept on until he got to a yard 
where petunias were growing, before he alighted 
on another flower. He would visit nothing but 
petunias. 

We are told by those who have studied this sub- 
ject, that the bee knows, by the smell of the flower, 
if its honey has been taken by some other bee. He 
only hovers over such a flower for a moment, but 
does not go into it. 

I cannot tell you half the wonderful things that 



LITTLE LESSONS IN PLANT LIFE. Ill 

are going on all around you among the plants. I 
hope the little I have told will serve to stimulate 
you to a further study of Nature, and her doings in 
plant life. 



LESSON XLL 

MEMORY GEM. 

At evening, when I go to bed, 
I see the stars shine overhead; 
They are the little daisies white 
That dot the meadow of the night. 

And often while I'm dreaming so, 
Across the sky the moon will go ; 
It is a lady, sweet and fair, 
Who comes to gather daisies there. 

For, wdien at morning I arise, 

There's not a star left in the skies; 

She's picked them all and dropped them down 

Into the meadows of the town. 

— Religious Herald. 



(112) 



LESSON XLIL 
SPELLING AND REVIEW. 






^=^e-^t. &e4=fr-n<Kne. 



What do the anthers contain ? 

What is pollen ? 

Is pollen essential to the formation of seed ? 

Could a plant make seed without anthers ? 

Where are the anthers sometimes placed when the 
filaments are wanting ? 

Describe the surface of the stigmas. 

Why should it be rough ? 

How does the pollen get from the anthers to the 
seed-case ? 

What is the seed-case ? 

Would the ovule become a seed if it did not re- 
ceive the pollen ? 

What becomes of the flowers after the plant has 
set seed ? 

8 (113) 



114 LITTLE LESSONS IN PLANT LIFE. 

Do flowers prefer pollen from their own anthers, 
or from the anthers of other flowers of the same 
kind ? 

By what means do they get the pollen from other 
flowers ? 

How do they repay the insects ? 

How do they attract them ? 

How do flowers get pollen when they are without 
perfume and bright colors ? 

What is nectar ? 

Little seed babies 

In cribs of brown, 
We found in a lane 

Just outside of town. 

They rocked to and fro 

With a wind lullaby, 
And they'd steal on tiptoe 

O'er the cradle's brim high. 

They'd beg a stray breeze 

To take them to play, 
And they'll never come back 

For a year and a day. 

— Selected 



CLEAR AND SIMPLE IN STYLE & j* jt ^ 
BEAUTIFULLY ILLUSTRATED WITH PICTURES 

W W W 

Little Lessons in Plant Life 

FOR LITTLE CHILDREN 
vl/ vl/ vl> 

By 

MRS. H. H. RICHARDSON 

Teacher in Springfield School, Richmond, Va. 
\1> \t> \t> 

A LIVE TEACHER WISHES TO KEEP 
UP WITH THE MARCH OE NEW IDEAS. 

It is one of the new ideas in teaching that it should be 
done more directly with nature herself, in her warm sun- 
shine, her live air, and on her nourishing soil. The teacher 
of the future must take his pupils out under the free heavens, 
and lead them directly into nature's mysteries, not through the 
medium of dry books. 

Books are at first living things, but they become dry and 
lifeless if used alone ; and they are always outgrown by the 
advance of man's mind into new learning as the years go on. 

Nature remains ever fresh and new, and we can examine her 
phenomena again and again with each day and month and 
year, 

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Among its many GOOD POINTS are the following : 

J. It is clear and simple in style. 

2. It is correct in is use of terms, so that there is nothing in 

it to be unlearned as the child grows older and studies 
botany regularly, as is the case with many primary 
works. 

3. It is short and suggestive, so that the teacher can fill out 

according to his own ideas, unhampered by the iron 
system of another. 

4. It furnishes material for three years' work with little 

children. 

5. It has lovely stories and poems, which delight and interest 

the little ones. 

6. It is also beautifully illustrated with pictures. 

7. It has diagrams to be drawn, thus impressing the mind 

and training the little fingers. 

8. It insists on original work by the pupil ; and this is of the 

utmost importance, for pupils cannot be taught too 
young to use their own minds. 

9. The plants and flowers used for lessons are such as are 

found all over the country, especially in the South, 
so that it is suited for all our schools. 

A GOOD FOUNDATION. 

To begin with children, when they are small, and teach 
them about plants, lays the foundation of a knowledge of 
nature, and an interest in life which will be the source of 
continual and increasing pleasure as long as they live. 

Most people take little interest in the things of outdoor 
life, because as children they have never been taught to 
notice and learn about them. We think it takes much time 
and study of books to know anything about geology, botany, 
astronomy, zoology, or physics, because these subjects have 
such long and learned names. 

(n6) 



But if we think a moment, we will see that these are only 
the sciences of the things by which we are daily surrounded, 
and which we daily look on with unseeing eyes — the rocks, 
the flowers, the stars, the animals, the rain and clouds and 
wind. 

TESTIMONIALS. 

I have been greatly interested in your treatment, I am 
not botanist enough to say whether you have said all that 
ought to be said, but what you have said has been clear, 
pointed, and entertaining, and seems, so far as a non-expert 
can discover, to cover the essentials of plant life. 

I am much pleased with it so far as I can form any judg- 
ment, and also with the marked success you have had in 
presenting plant life in your school room. 

Wm. F. Fox, 
Sapt. of Public Schools, Richmond, Va. 

Richmond, Va., August 16, 1897. 

I have read with great care Mrs. Richardson's little work 
on Plant Life, but, more to the purpose, for years I have 
observed the excellence of Mrs. Richardson's methods in 
the school-room while teaching the subject to hundreds of 
the youngest pupils. Every lesson has been tested over and 
over while I was present in the school-room, and the results 
have been in every way successful and satisfactory. No bet- 
ter test is possible. 

I believe that ' ' Little Lessons in Plant Life for Little 
Children," will supply an immediate need of all teachers, 
especially those inexperienced in the art of teaching elemen- 
tary science. The book will prove helpful, suggestive and 
inspiring, not only in the manner of dealing with the subject- 
matter— and this is altogether pleasing — but in other direc- 
tions of pedagogic value the little book demands hearty 
commendation. 

Leroy S. Edwards, 
Principal Springfield School, Richmond, Va. 

CHILDREN'S LOVE. 

Children have an innate love for flowers, and it is a matter 
of congratulation to educators that books on nature-study 
are multiplying. Let them come. Teachers need them. 

\irr) 



The flower- world is full of beauty and poetry. To fill the 
child-mind with gems of this poetry, and open its eyes to 
the beauty and wisdom that lie hid in plant-life, is a noble 
work — a work of inestimable value to the child. " Little 
Lessons " presents a plan by which the teacher can skillfully 
do this work. 

GOOD STORIES. 

Too much importance cannot be attached to the use of 
the story in the school-room, not only as a means of develop- 
ing thought and training the power of attention, but as a 
means of language culture it is invaluable. 

Children delight to repeat stories that have been read to 
them, and thus they rapidly gain fluency in the correct use 
of language. 

This book supplies a number of charming and carefully 
selected stories that the primary teacher will hail with 
pleasure. 

Drawing is another way of Expressing Thought, 

It gives most valuable training to the hand and eye. An 
experience in the school-room proves that children trained 
to draw become better observers and more accurate in all 
work. Hence the importance of beginning early to teach 
this art. 

In " Little Lessons " the child is encouraged and taught to 
draw simple forms of leaves and flowers from the objects 
themselves. 

' ' Little Lessons in Plant Life for Little Children ' ' is printed 
from clear type, printed on good paper, and is substantially 
bound. 

Price, 40 cents. 

Will be sent, charges paid, on receipt of retail price, or may be 
ordered through booksellers. 

Teachers ordering one do^en or more, will have a desk copy sent 
free. 

(118) 



Iflanual of R iNc |)) or.iliiv 



A Text-Book for Elementary and Academic 
Schools and for the help of Parents in 
training their Children at Home. j* <£• £• 

vt/ W 

By SHALER G. HILLYER, D. D. 

For more than forty years a practical teacher, and for nearly twelve of those years 
a professor in Mercer University. 



With an Introduction Dy HON. G. R. GLENN 

State School Commissioner of Georgia. 

\\) * 

WE call special attention to the following points, show- 
ing that Dr. Hilly er's Manual is the book that 
teachers and also parents have long needed : 
i. The morality taught in its pages is truly a " Bible 
Morality." As the author aptly says in his introduction, 
1 ' It may be assumed that the people of the United States 
with wonderful unanimity, accept the morality of the Bible 
as pre-eminently the most perfect standard of rectitude 
known among men. Even those who reject the Bible as a 
Divine Revelation, and practically disregard its require- 
ments, admit the excellency of its morality." 

2. Dr. Hillyer's luminous expositions upon the Command- 
ments are most admirable, for which he deserves the grati- 
tude of parents and teachers all over the land. 

3. His chapter on "The Relative Duties of Employers 
and Employees " and "The Law of Temperance " are unex- 
celled. How truly he says, "I believe if employers and 
employees of every grade knew and fulfilled, with all faith- 
fulness, their relative duties to one another according to the 
teachings of Bible morality, the labor problem would be 
solved." 

("9) 



4- The Summaries at the end of each chapter are just 
what is needed for impressing the lesson upon the heart and 
mind of the pupil. 

5. The book contains the ripe thoughts of a man who has 
passed through a long and well-spent life, and has seen 
many fall by the way from having made a false beginning. 

Bible Morality 

Is a book especially adapted to the needs of teachers and 
parents for teaching high moral principles and character 
building. 

A book needed in every home and every school-room. It 
should be carefully read and studied by every individual, 
both young and old, who desires to make the most and the 
best of himself. 

This work, with a kindly benignant hand, prepares the 
young heart for usefulness by rooting out the evil weeds, 
controlling and assuaging the rising passions, and tenderly 
encouraging and nurturing those beautiful Christian virtues 
that hallow the lives of all who truly seek the best things in 
this life and the life to come. 

HON. G, R* GLENN, of Georgia, heartily 
commends it* 

I have read, with a great deal of pleasure and absorbing 
interest, the manuscript of this little volume. The work 
has been prepared by one of the Fathers in our Israel. The 
time has not yet come, and I hope it never will come in this 
country, when we shall cease to regard the wisdom and 
philosophy of those who have passed through all the experi- 
ences of this short human life. 

The author of this little book, Dr. S. G. Hillyer, offers it 
to the public as the richest and maturest fruitage of a long 
and well-spent life. He is standing in the shadow of eighty 
years, and with the far-seeing vision of the spiritual light 
that gathers about the prophet's head, he sends this loving 

(zao) 



message to the boys and girls of the coming generations, 
who must travel the same journey that, sore-foot and weary, 
he has traveled so long and so well. 

I very cordially commend this little book, not only to all 
the teachers and school officials of this State, but to the 
teachers and school officials in all the States in this Union, 
who are concerned in having our children wisely trained to 
perpetuate in themselves and their descendants, the govern- 
ment and the institutions that have been handed down to 
us from our God-fearing fathers. 

G. R. Glenn, 
State School Commissioner of Georgia. 

The accompanying endorsements give some idea of the 
estimate placed on the book by experienced and successful 
educators. AVe invite teachers, parents, and all interested 
in the cause of education to examine carefully this book 
with a view of using it regularly. We believe that it will 
prove a great blessing to our rising generation. 

The treatise is wholly free from the least suggestion of 
sectarian bias, and while it urges all the sanction of the 
Bible in inculcating its precepts, it smacks of no creed, it is 
narrowed by no bigotry.— /. C. Harris, Principal Public 
Schools, Pome, Ga. 

It is most admirably conceived and executed. Such a 
text in the hands of competent teachers cannot fail to pro- 
duce most salutary results. — W. A. Candler, Atlanta, Ga. 

The idea of adapting the principles of ethics to the com- 
prehension of the youth of our country is a happy one, and 
most happily has the learned author wrought out the con- 
ception in this little volume. — A. J. Battle, President 
Shorter College, Pome, Ga. 

The book will be helpful to the teacher as well as instruc- 
tive and useful to the child. — P. J. King, Principal Classi- 
cal School, Pome, Ga. 

It would be well if such a book were used as a text in all 
the common schools of the country. — IV. H.Payne, Chan- 
cellor Universitv of Nashville, Tenn. 

My search fails to discover one word that might raise 
objection in the mind of anyone who believes in the Deca- 
logue. — IV. E. Boggs, Chancellor University of Georgia. 

(121) 



it is a book in all respects able, unsectarian, and unsec- 
tional, and I, therefore, with the eminent School Commis- 
sioner of Georgia, "cordially commend this book to the 
teachers and school officials in all the States in the Union , 
who are concerned in having our children wisely trained to 
perpetuate in themselves and their descendants, the govern- 
ment and the institutions that have been handed down to us 
from our God-fearing fathers." — Ex-Governor Richard B. 
Hubbard, Tyler ; Texas. 

This book is admirably suited for the purpose designed — 
to be a text-book on Bible Morality. It is a simple, clear 
presentation of the subject, free from technical terms and 
well suited to the child-mind. We trust that the author and 
publishers may be rewarded by having it adopted as a text- 
book in the schools all over our land. It is worthy to be 
there and fitted to do great good. Such a work has been 
needed, and Dr. Hillyer has supplied the need. — Christian 
Index, Atlanta, Ga. 

It is my pleasure to commend in strong terms the 
"Manual of Bible: Morality," by Dr. S. G. Hillyer. 

I shall be gratified if the book shall be introduced into all 
our public and private grammar and secondary schools. The 
Manual has been prepared by one of our foremost scholars 
and divines. I do not know a man better fitted for this 
beautiful service, nor one having more at heart the purposes 
he desires to accomplish. — Ex-Governor W. f. Northern, 
Atlanta, Ga. 

I have just read with great satisfaction the work on 
practical ethics by Dr. S. G. Hillyer, entitled "Bible 
Morality. ' ' 

He treats the difficult subject in a style marvelous for 
its clearness and simplicity, and develops a thoroughly 
sound doctrine with a logical force and acumen that marks 
the hand of a master. 

I am sure if our schools everywhere would adopt and 
make good use of this book it would very soon prove its 
worth by greatly promoting the moral health of society. — 
Noah K. Davis, M.A., Ph.D., LL.D., Professor Moral 
Philosophy , University of Virginia. 

i2tno, 224 pages, well printed and substantially bound. 
Price, 60 cents. 

Will be sent postpaid on receipt of retail price. 
(122) 



Outlines of German Literature 

From 500 B. C. to 1870 

For Class-Room and Library 

By MADAM MARY JEFFERSON TEUSLER 

Teacher of German in the High School of Richmond , Va. 



Contains about 250 pages. 121110. Price, $1.25 ; introduc- 
tion price, $1.00. Willie sent to teachers postpaid on 
receipt of introduction price, but if more convenient may be 
ordered of your bookseller. 

The book is simply what its title indicates : an outline to 
be followed in studying German literature— a guide to more 
extended work in this great field. It is an excellent refer- 
ence book for dates and facts desirable to be known. It also 
contains fifty of the most celebrated short poems in the lan- 
guage. It is not only a text-book, but will be found accept- 
able to the general reader. 

Important points to be considered : 

1 . It gives the pupils a clear idea of German literature, 

its authors, and their works in an interesting and 
concise style. 

2. It is adapted to all schools, public and private. 

3. If used only as a reading book many important facts 

will be so pleasantly acquired as to make a lasting 
impression on the pupil. 

The style is simple and direct, and the volume cannot fail 
to inspire in the young a desire for a more extended acquaint- 
ance with the legends, lays and authors of which it treats, 
— Richmond Dispatch. 

In short, it lays foundations, and lays them well, which 
should be the limit of the scope of any school or college 
text-book. The publishers are disciples of that sensible 
reform of using large, legible type at the expense of space. 

(123) 



In every respect this new text book merits the attention of 
teachers and students of German Literature. — The Teacher, 
Illinois. 

The volume has the charm of biography and intelligent 
literary criticism or comment in one, and is very delight- 
ful reading aside from its very positive educational merit. 
It is the work of a thoughtful, discriminative and sympa- 
thetic mind deeply in love with its subject, and it has all the 
value which that implies. — Richmond limes. 

" Outlines oe German Literature," by M. J. Teusler, 
is a most interesting compilation of the best gems of the 
German language, replete with appropriate remarks. It is 
fascinating from cover to cover, and no lover of this language 
can afford to be without it. — Public Schools, Tenn. 



The Bible Course Syllabus 

Prepared by 

REV. J. B. SHEARER, D.D. 

President of Davidson College, N. C , formerly Professor of Biblical Instruction, 
Southwestern Presbyterian University, Clarksville, Tenn. 

Complete in three volumes. Price, 50 cents each. {Bound in 
cloth, interleaved for notes ) i6mo. For the use of the Junior, 
Intermediate and Senior Classes of the University, for Colleges, 
Schools and Private Bible Classes. Sample copy of either grade 
sent postpaid on receipt of 40 cents, introduction price. 
Price, per set (3 volumes), $r.$o. Price to Ministers, 
also to Teachers, for examination and introduction, per set, 
Si- 20. 

The study of the Bible is attracting more and more atten- 
tion every year, and now our wisest educators and best men 
feel that the safest and best thing to do to protect our young 
people, to build them up and make strong and vigorous men 
and women of them, is to begin early in life the teachings 
of the Bible and constantly impress its beautiful truths on 

(124) 



their minds They need to realize that it is the foundation 
of all learning, the foundation of all literature, and the founda- 
tion of all law, and when God's Word is fixed firmly in their 
minds so as to enable them to use it to the very best advan- 
tage in all of the trying exigencies of life, they are far better 
prepared to fight life's battles. Some institutions require 
every student enrolled to take a systematic course of Bible 
study. 

There are minor details in connection with this work that 
must be settled according to the individual needs of each 
case, according to the enthusiasm and vivacity of the 
teachers ; but there are certain general lines of thought and 
work that we can all safely follow along. Shearer's course 
of Bible study does not undertake to present any peculiar 
doctrine or to favor any particular sect, but it simply en- 
deavors to lay out before the student the Word of God in all 
its beauty and purity. 

There is enough valuable matter packed away in each little 
book to render it worthy of the title volume. — Prof. G. S. 
Burroughs, D. D., Amherst College, Amherst, Mass. 

You have done a great thing in anticipating the general 
sentiment which is now going to prevail. — Wm. R. Harper, 
President Chicago University. 

I like your plan because it is a plan to learn the truths of 
the Bible from the Book itself. We then analyze your analy- 
sis more minutely so that the students fix in their minds and 
memories, as far as possible, the very words and idioms of 
the Bible. — Rev. D. Rice, D. D., President Macalester Col- 
lege, St. Paul, Minn. 

I have used it five years in the class-room and find it excel- 
lently adapted to my work. It is eminently practical and 
comprehensive. I like the feature of leaving details of in- 
terpretation, doctrines, etc., to the teacher. — Rev. S. E. 
Chandler, Prof. Biblical Instruction, Austin College, Sher- 
man, Texas. 

I take this occasion for bearing my testimony and uttering 
in no uncertain terms my hearty advocacy of the Christian 
feature in education which you are developing. — Rev. J. D. 
Tadlock, D. D., Theological Seminary, Columbia, S. C 

(125) 



We commend the work as one of great value, not only to 
the professor, but to the teacher of Bible classes and to the 
Bible student. — Central Presbyterian. 

They are full and accurate, and admirably adapted to aid 
the student of the Bible, by giving him a clear and connected 
view of its contents, and directing his attention to very many 
points which would otherwise be overlooked. — D. D San- 
derson, Prof. Tuscaloosa Institute, Ala. 

We have formed a Bible class here and have fifteen mem- 
bers to start with, and we are going to use your Bible 
Course Syllabus, and have named the class the ' ' Shearer 
Bible Class."—/. IV. Bishop, Sec. Shearer Bible Class, Har- 
per's Ferry, IV. Va. 

I am quite well pleased with it, and I shall use it in my 
class. — Rev. G. M. Elliott, Pastor Berean Pres. Church, 
Beaufort, S. C 



Pollard's Shakespearean Tablet 

By JOHN POLLARD, A.M., D.D. 

Professor of English in Richmond College, Richmond, Va. 

just the thing needed by every literature class. Thirty-two pages, 
printed on good quality of writing paper. Price, 25 cents / 
introduction price, 20 cents. Will be sent, postpaid, 
on receipt of introduction price. 

Teachers have frequently felt the need of a work of this 
kind that would enable them to have their scholars carefully 
tabulate the important points in connection with the drama 
that they were studying, and we are glad to be able to offer 
a most satisfactory Tablet. We believe it is the only one 
that has ever been made for work of this kind. It contains 
thirty-two pages, printed and ruled, especially adapted to 
the needs of the class, the present form being adopted only 
after eight years' experience in teaching on this plan. 

Students using this Tablet are compelled to be able to 
grasp thoroughly and master the subject in hand, while it is 
a great saving of time on the part of the teacher. 

(126) 



Literature Tablet 

By JOHN POLLARD, A.M., D;D. 

Professor of English in Richmond College, Richmond, Va. 

Price, 25 cents. Introduction price, 20 cents. Will 
he sent on receipt of introduction price, which may he refunded 
if not satisfactory* Postage stamps taken. 

This Tablet is on the same general plan as the Shake- 
spearean Tablet, but adapted to a wider range of reading, 
and it may be used in the study of any kind of literature. 
It possesses the same advantages as the Shakespearean Tab- 
let, and contains the same number of pages. 

We heartily commend these Tablets to teachers of litera- 
ture, believing, as we do, that they will prove exceedingly 
helpful and advantageous both to themselves and their pupils. 



SmithdcaPs Practical Grammar, Speller and 
Letter-Ulriter 

By G. H. SMITHDEAL 

Formerly Teacher of Rhetoric, Spelling, Dictation and Reading in the Richmond 
High School, Richmond, Va. 

Contains 214 pages. Bound together in cloth and stiff hoards, or 
each part may he had hound separately. Price for com- 
bination, 75 cents ; introductory price, 60 cents. 
Grammar, separate, 45 cents; Speller, 35 cents; 
Letter- Writer, 35 cents. Introductory price of 
each part, 25 cents. 

Important and closely related as these subjects are in a 
practical education, we believe they have not heretofore 
been united in one volume. This book embraces just such 
matter, and is arranged in just such a manner as it is thought 
will best serve the needs of the Business College, the 
Academic or the Home Student. 

The Grammar of this book, including a treatise on ' ' Words 
Frequently used Incorrectly," together with complete rules 
for Capitalization and Punctuation, embraces 104 pages. It is 
a well-known fact that English Grammar is an unwelcome 
study to the average student. Recognizing the very great 
importance of this part of the book, and the fact that 
students do not make satisfactory progress in those studies 

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for which they feel a distaste, the author has endeavored to 
eliminate technicalities and make the subject as simple and 
attractive as is consistent with thoroughness 

The Spelling covers 52 pages, embracing nearly 5000 words, 
which have been selected with great care. Knowing that 
for a few cents a student can purchase a dictionary, with a 
long list of simple and difficult words pertaining to all»sub- 
jects, following each other promiscuously, without regard to 
system, save alphabetic order, the writer has carefully classi- 
fied and placed all w r ords under their respective headings, 
as shown by the " Contents," more than half of them being 
defined. There are embraced in this department such w r ords 
as are in common use, not only in business, but in every 
department of life, and are liable to be misspelled. Having 
examined the latest leading business college spellers, the 
author confidently believes this division of the book to be 
easily superior to anything else of the kind published. 

The Letter- Writing embraces 50 pages. Here general 
information is given on the subject ol correspondence, fol- 
lowed by detailed instruction concerning the various classes 
of business and social epistolary correspondence. A large 
number of model forms are also given, showing the learner 
just how to begin and end letters, how to fold and insert them 
into envelopes, how to address and stamp envelopes, etc. 

Business Forms. — The book ends w 7 ith eight pages of the 
various kinds of Business Forms, and instructions for writ- 
ing them in the best style. 

We invite attention to the opinions from scholars and 
educators of high character and reputation. Better still, 
send for a book for examination, with a view to introduction, 
and judge for yourself. 

I find " Smithdeal's Grammar, Speller and Letter- 
Writer " admirably adapted to the purpose for which it has 
been prepared. It deals with just those subjects with which a 
business man needs most to be acquainted. It is logical in ar- 
rangement and clear in statement I should be glad to know 
that all our young men entering business know half of what 
is here so well set forth. — John Pollard, A.M., D. D. y Pro- 
fessor of School of English, Richmond College, Richmond, \/a. 

I have examined " Smithdeal's English Grammar, 
SPELLER and Letter- Writer," and can very highly rec- 
ommend it. It ought to be on the desk of every business 
young man.— Jam es Nelson, A.M., D.D., President of 
Woman 's College, Rich7nond, Va. 

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LIBRARY OF 






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